PoliticsDonald Trump Fires Back at 'Stupid' Barack Obama, Calls Him a 'Lousy President' After Ex-POTUS Mocks His White House Renovations
Donald Trump lashed out at 'stupid' Barack Obama after the former president's joke about his White House renovations.
Oct. 27 2026, Published 2:22 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump lashed out at former President Barack Obama, calling him "not a smart guy," "stupid" and a "lousy president" after Obama mocked his White House renovations.
During a Democratic campaign rally in Ohio, Obama, 65, joked about Trump's extensive home renovations and penchant for gold ornamentation.
Obama teased that Trump, 80, "should be on HGTV" and remarked that Trump has "the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory; it's just gold everywhere.”
'A Stupid Person'
Barack Obama frequently ranks at or near the top of lists for best presidents in Americans' lifetimes.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Trump retaliated by questioning Obama's intelligence. He stated, "The way he ran the country, only a stupid person would run the country like that.” He later added that the comparison "just shows why you were a lousy president.”
In public opinion polling, Obama frequently ranks near or at the top of lists for presidents in Americans' lifetimes, while Trump typically ranks near the bottom.
In a survey of political scientists and presidential scholars (published via Wiley Online Library), Obama ranked 7th overall, while Trump ranked last (45th) with a score of 10.92 out of 100. The survey also identified Trump as the most polarizing president in U.S. history.
Donald Trump wasn't happy with Obama's colorful description of his gilded White House.
At a subsequent campaign event in Corinth, Miss., Trump flipped the insult to praise the restaurant chain, telling supporters: "He said, 'This isn't a Cheesecake Factory.' Can you believe it? Which is a very successful company. He doesn't like successful companies.”
“The White House — we have to explain that to Obama ’cause he doesn’t understand it,” he added.
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Donald Trump Defends White House Renovations
Trump defended his renovations while blasting Obama's lack of interior design vision for the 'dump' of a White House.
Trump defended the renovations on practical grounds, asserting that he hired the "finest artisans in the world" to fix broken masonry, damaged exterior plaster and missing window ornaments that previous administrations neglected.
“I’ve taken care of the White House,” Trump harped. “I fixed it with the finest artisans in the world. We reskinned it. It was in horrible shape.”
Trump previously called the White House a "dump" before he started renovating.
Obama has quipped that he lives 'rent-free' in a 'suite' in Trump's head.
“Guys like Obama,” Trump continued, “for years, they were broken, and he wouldn’t notice ’cause he doesn’t notice that. He doesn’t notice dirt and filth that hadn’t been cleaned.”
“It’s very easy for me to do,” he boasted, claiming he puts in just “five minutes a day, ten minutes a day” of work. “I do it very, very simply ’cause, by nature, I’m a very clean person.”
Obama has previously joked that he lives rent-free in a "suite" in Trump's head, noting that Trump frequently fixates on him years after his presidency.
