Politics'He Made a Big Mistake': Donald Trump Blasts Barack Obama for Claiming Aliens Are Real in Bizarre Interview
Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of revealing 'classified information' after saying aliens are real.
Feb. 20 2026, Published 7:40 a.m. ET
Donald Trump is firing back at Barack Obama — and this time, it’s over aliens.
On Thursday, February 19, while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Georgia, the president was asked about Obama’s recent comments suggesting aliens “are real,” a remark that’s been making headlines all week.
Donald Trump criticized Barack Obama over comments about aliens.
Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy brought it up, asking, “Have you seen any evidence of non-human visitors to Earth?”
Trump answered, “Well, he gave us classified information. Is he supposed to be doing that? I don't know if they're real or not. I can tell you he gave us classified information. He's not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake.”
He doubled down moments later.
“He took it out of classified information. I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do a lot of people believe it. You believe it?” Trump added.
The exchange instantly blew up online.
“So…Trump said it. Not Obama,” one wrote, referring to Trump’s confirmation that any information about extra-terrestrial life is “classified information.”
“Now we all want to see the alien files, please,” a second added.
“HE TOOK IT OUT OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION,” another reiterated.
“Trump just basically admitted that the federal government has information regarding whether aliens exist or not,” a fourth penned.
“Trump made the same ‘mistake’ just by the public acknowledgement of the issue,” a fifth chimed in.
Barack Obama said extraterrestrials are 'real' but he 'had not seen them.'
That same day, Trump took to Truth Social to announce he wants the Defense Department to disclose more data regarding the matter.
“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs),” he wrote, “and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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As OK! previously reported, Obama’s original remarks came during a February 13 podcast interview with political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen.
“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them. They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility — unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States,” Obama said.
Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of revealing classified information.
He even joked that learning the truth about aliens was high on his priority list when he first entered the Oval Office.
“Where are the aliens?” he recalled asking officials.
After headlines started swirling, Obama clarified what he meant in an Instagram post on February 15.
“I was trying to stick with the spirit of [Cohen’s] 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,” he wrote.
He ended his statement on a firm note: “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
Barack Obama later clarified he saw no evidence of alien contact during his presidency.
This isn’t the first time Obama has touched on the topic. Back in 2021, during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, he admitted there were UFO sightings the government couldn’t fully explain.
“When it comes to aliens, there are some things I just can’t tell you on air,” he said with a laugh. “Look, the truth is that when I came into office, I asked.”
He continued: “I was like, ‘All right, is there the lab somewhere where we're keeping the alien specimens and spaceships?’ And they did a little bit of research, and the answer is no.”
Still, he acknowledged that some leaked UFO footage is authentic.
“What is true — and I’m actually being serious here — is there are, there’s footage and records of objects in the skies that we don’t know exactly what they are,” Obama declared. “We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern.”
He said that “people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out” what the unexplained flying objects are.
