Trump Claims Obama Shared ‘Classified’ Alien Info on Podcast

After former President Barack Obama claimed that aliens “are real” on a podcast, President Donald Trump is accusing Obama of disclosing classified information about extraterrestrial life, saying he made a “big mistake” by publicly discussing aliens on Thursday from the White House.

Trump’s criticism stems from an interview Obama gave to podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, in which the former president responded affirmatively when asked whether he believed extraterrestrial life exists. Obama said “they’re real,” but also clarified that he has never seen them and doesn’t believe they are hidden at locations like Area 51.

Former President Obama later walked back the more casual interpretation of his podcast remarks on social media, writing that, “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”

In a series of statements, Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy that “He’s not supposed to be doing that. I don’t know if they’re real or not… I can tell you he gave classified information.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the controversy during a briefing, and she declined to confirm whether Trump personally believes in extraterrestrial life, but reiterated that the administration views public discussion of classified matters as sensitive and serious. “A speech on aliens would be news to me… That would be of great interest to me personally … and, apparently, former President Obama, too. We’ll keep you posted on that,” Leavitt said.

On the Pod Force One podcast, President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, implied to host Miranda Devine that the President is holding onto a speech revealing the existence of extraterrestrial life. “I’ve heard kind of around, I think my father-in-law has actually said it, that there is some speech that he has, that I guess at the right time, I don’t know when the right time is, he’s going to break out and talk about and it has to do with maybe some sort of extraterrestrial life,” Lara Trump said.

In recent years, Pentagon and congressional interest in UAPs has led to the release of previously classified military sightings and greater transparency efforts from the Department of Defense. Still, no official government confirmation of extraterrestrial contact exists, and major intelligence offices maintain that unexplained sightings are not evidence of alien visitation.