Trump issues a savage response after Obama said 'aliens are real' on a podcast.
The questions about aliens have moved from internet conspiracies to US politics, with both current and former presidents weighing in on the idea that we're not alone in the universe.
Recently, Donald Trump's daughter-in-law rumoured that the President is set to give a speech on the potential of extraterrestrial life when the 'time is right.'
During a recent appearance on the New York Post's Pod Force One podcast, Lara Trump revealed that the president reportedly 'played coy' when she and her husband pressed him for information on the topic.
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Now, President Trump has responded to former US President Barack Obama's claims about aliens. In a podcast last Saturday, hosted by Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama claims to believe aliens are real.
"They're real, but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in Area 51," Obama said. "There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
The mysterious Area 51 has long been the subject of conspiracy theories claiming it houses alien bodies and crashed spacecraft. Despite the CIA insisting that the site is simply part of the Nevada Test and Training Range with no links to alien experimentation, conspiracy theorists continue developing their own explanations for the facility's purpose.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Trump fired back at Obama's claims, saying: "He's not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake."
Asked about his own views on alien existence, he replied: "Well, I don't know if they're real or not."
President Trump added: "I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it."
Given the amount of public interest in the matter, Trump also announced on Thursday (19 February) that he would direct federal agencies to begin releasing government files related to aliens and UFOs.
In recent years, the Pentagon has conducted investigations into UFO reports. Senior military officials stated in 2022 that they found no evidence of aliens visiting or crash-landing on Earth, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, a 2024 Pentagon report concluded that US government investigations dating back to the end of World War II had uncovered no proof of extraterrestrial technology.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, Obama confirmed: "I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"