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Former President Barack Obama was mostly silent about his immediate successor Donald Trump, even as he was subject to Trump’s attacks on social media. However, Obama did not shy away from criticizing Trump in private, according to a new book.
According to the book by Edward-Isaac Dovere, “Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump,” Obama did not mince words when it came to criticizing his immediate successor, who had pushed birther conspiracies about him throughout his campaign. In excerpts of the book that were obtained by The Guardian, Obama had called Trump a “f***ing lunatic,” as well as a “racist, sexist pig,” a “madman,” and a “corrupt motherf***er.”
One of the reasons that Trump drew the ire of Obama was when the former president learned that Trump was speaking to world leaders without any of his aides present. This included Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“‘He’s a madman,’” said the former president according to Dovere. “More often: ‘I didn’t think it would be this bad,’ Sometimes: ‘I didn’t think we’d have a racist, sexist pig.’ Depending on the outrage of the day...a passing ‘that f***ing lunatic’ with a shake of his head.”
In other news, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the US does not plan on purchasing Greenland, following the proposal made by Trump during his term. This follows Trump’s comments in 2019 along with his economic advisers that he was considering the possibility of purchasing Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. At the time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back against Trump, saying that it was “absurd.”
Blinken was visiting Greenland after he attended a meeting of the Arctic Council in Iceland, in an effort to reaffirm ties between Washington, Greenland, and Denmark. Greenland’s Foreign Minister Pele Broberg said that there was some speculation regarding Greenland due to its strategic importance. However, Broberg clarified, saying that Blinken’s visit was not a “real estate deal.”
“A real estate deal means land with nothing on it, nobody on it. Secretary Blinken has made clear that he’s here for the people living in the Arctic, for the people living in Greenland,” said Broberg.
