US President Donald Trump on Friday accused former President Barack Obama of improperly disclosing classified information after Obama spoke publicly about alien life. Trump did not present evidence to substantiate the allegation.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Georgia, Trump said, "He took it out of classified information ... He’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake."
Trump’s comments came days after Obama addressed the question of extraterrestrial life during an interview with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen that was released on Saturday. When asked whether aliens are real, Obama said, "They're real, but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in ... Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
Area 51 is a classified Air Force facility in Nevada that has long fueled speculation among fringe theorists who claim it contains alien bodies and wreckage from a crashed spacecraft. Archives released in 2013 by the Central Intelligence Agency identified it as a testing site for top secret spy aircraft. Obama’s remarks gave no indication that he was referencing classified material.
In a separate Instagram post on Sunday, Obama reiterated his stance. “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” he wrote.
Obama explained that while he believes the statistical probability of life elsewhere in the vast universe is high, the likelihood of extraterrestrial beings visiting Earth is low due to the immense distances involved.
Asked Thursday whether he had personally seen evidence confirming alien life, Trump said, "I don’t know if they’re real or not." The White House declined to add to the president’s remarks. Obama’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Friday morning, Trump also took to Truth Social to write, "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), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
In recent years, the United States Department of Defence has intensified its review of reports involving unidentified flying objects. Senior military officials said in 2022 they found no evidence that aliens had visited or crash landed on Earth.
A 2024 Pentagon report also concluded that US government investigations conducted since the end of World War Two found no proof of extraterrestrial technology and that most sightings were misidentified ordinary objects or natural phenomena.
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