Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized Donald Trump’s administration during campaign stops in Ohio and Michigan, targeting the president’s ethics, foreign policy decisions, and personal style just ten days ahead of midterm elections that will determine control of a closely divided Congress.
Speaking at rallies designed to energize Democratic voters, Obama seized on Trump’s framing of the midterm elections as a referendum on his own leadership. Campaigning in Detroit for Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who is locked in a tight race against Republican former US Representative Mike Rogers, Obama framed the November 3 vote as a vital political intervention.
“We got to flip that circuit breaker, bring some accountability to this government,” Obama told the Michigan crowd, describing the election as a way to rein in the current administration’s policies.
Throughout his remarks in Cleveland and Detroit, Obama lampooned the administration’s record, accusing the president of widespread financial self-dealing at taxpayer expense. He asserted that the governing party had reduced its platform to promoting corrupt, inept, or nonexistent governance.
“We have never seen a president excel in straight-up grifting, on your dime, like this,” Obama said. “Never seen a president so intent on selling favors like this.”
The former president’s criticisms echoed findings from a /Ipsos poll conducted in August, which indicated that 63 percent of Americans believe the president and his family have inappropriately profited from cryptocurrency since returning to office last year. The same polling showed that 69 percent of respondents believe private business dealings influence official policy decisions.
Turning to foreign policy, Obama ridiculed administration claims of success regarding Iran. He argued that ongoing conflict has inadvertently strengthened Tehran’s economic leverage, noting that persistent threats to attack shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz have severely unsettled global oil exporters.
“Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz, where oil goes through to get to the world,” Obama said.
The former president also targeted administration priorities and personal aesthetics. He offered sharp sarcasm regarding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, characterizing him as fixated on superficial military standards, before mocking recent physical alterations made to the executive mansion.
“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” Obama quipped.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the former president’s remarks.
As one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent figures, Obama’s return to the campaign trail is intended to mobilize core supporters in critical swing-state contests where legislative control hangs in the balance.
