Former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump went to war on the campaign trail Saturday, trading savage insults and personal attacks as America’s two political heavyweights launched a furious final push ahead of the midterm elections.
The former Democratic president ridiculed Trump’s lavish White House renovations, compared his taste in gold to Saddam Hussein’s and accused him of enriching his family and political allies.
But Trump fired back from a packed campaign rally in Georgia, mocking Obama’s ability to attract supporters while declaring that his controversial tariffs were delivering billions in investment and thousands of American jobs.
The extraordinary presidential showdown unfolded across three battleground states, with Obama campaigning in Ohio and Michigan while Trump attempted to rescue Republican fortunes in Georgia.
With control of Congress hanging in the balance ahead of November 3, the increasingly bitter exchanges offered a glimpse of the political warfare gripping the country.
Obama, 65, delivered some of his sharpest attacks in Detroit, where he appeared alongside Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
The former president accused Trump of obsessing over decorating the White House while ordinary Americans struggled with soaring living costs.
‘He is very focused on home renovation. He should be on HGTV,’ Obama joked, drawing laughter from the crowd.
He then turned his attention to Trump’s elaborate gold decorations and ambitious construction projects.
‘What’s up with the gold?’ Obama demanded. ‘I mean, he’s got the one that’s looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.’
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at Cleveland Public Auditorium in Cleveland on Saturday
Former President Barack Obama is joined by Democratic nominee for US Senate Abdul El-Sayed, right, and Democratic gubernatorial nominee and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson greet supporters during a campaign event at Cass Technical High School in Detroit
Ohio. Obama is campaigning for Ohio Democratic candidates including Senate candidate, former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton
But Obama’s criticism quickly turned from mockery to accusations of corruption and of Trump of using the presidency to benefit himself, his family and his allies.
‘The one thing that the current president is focused on other than home improvements is enriching himself and his family and his cronies,’ Obama said.
He pointed to Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures and government contracts involving his children’s businesses as examples of what he described as a pattern of self-enrichment.
‘We have lost count of all the deals he and his family have done. You can’t keep up. Meme coins, taxpayer-funded contracts for his kids’ companies,’ Obama said.
He also alleged that financial dealings involving Trump associates showed a wider culture of favoritism at the top of the administration.
‘This is a culture that’s set at the top,’ Obama said.
Obama also mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing the administration of focusing on the appearance and masculinity of American troops rather than more pressing military matters.
‘He’s focused on important matters like the jawline and the testosterone levels of our troops,’ Obama said, before criticizing the live-streaming of executions as a way to cultivate what he described as a ‘manly warrior spirit.’
He then delivered a personal jibe at Hegseth, asking, ‘How much time do you think this man spends in front of the mirror every day?’
From left, Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, left, former President Barack Obama, center, and Ohio Democratic candidate for US Senate Sherrod Brown, right, attend a campaign rally on Saturday in Cleveland
Former President Barack Obama, left, greets Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, right, at a campaign rally in Cleveland
Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton arrives for a campaign rally on Saturday
But hundreds of miles away in Perry, Georgia, Trump was delivering his own blistering performance before Republican supporters.
The president repeatedly referenced Obama’s Michigan appearance, dismissing the former president’s crowd size.
‘The place was empty,’ Trump claimed.
His assertion came despite reports of a packed high school gymnasium in Detroit, where Obama had been campaigning for El-Sayed.
Trump instead sought to turn attention toward the economy, announcing a major investment by German automaker Volkswagen in a new Audi manufacturing plant in Georgia.
The president claimed the $4.2 billion project vindicated his aggressive tariff policies, which have faced criticism amid stubbornly high consumer prices.
‘Think of that. 200,000 cars a year. That’s incredible,’ Trump told supporters.
Georgia has emerged as a particularly important battleground, with Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins attempting to unseat Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.
Polling averages currently show Ossoff ahead by more than eight percentage points, while the Cook Political Report rates the contest as likely Democratic.
Trump’s appearance marked his second visit to Georgia in two weeks, underscoring the importance of the race to Republican hopes of maintaining control of the Senate.
Trump’s second visit to Georgia in just two weeks underscores the state’s crucial importance in the midterms, with Republicans fighting to unseat Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff
President Donald Trump greets Gernot Döllner, CEO of Audi AG, at a campaign rally at Guardian Centers of Georgia, in Perry, Georgia
President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally at Guardian Centers of Georgia
But even some of the president’s supporters expressed doubts about his increasingly combative campaigning.
‘I love Trump to death, but sometimes he should keep his mouth shut,’ Chris Capp, 55, a former Army National Guard employee, told Bloomberg.
Others welcomed his economic message.
‘That’s awesome, I want jobs to come to Georgia,’ said Richard Motes, 61.
‘I’m dead red,’ he added. ‘If they let me push a button to vote all Republican, I’d push the button.’
Hours earlier, Obama was in Ohio and seized on what he described as ‘cruelty and indecency’ coming from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies.
Obama stepped into one of the nation’s ugliest midterm fights as he worked to rally Democratic voters in the battleground state.
He took specific aim at Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has doubled down on an advertising campaign featuring the estranged mother of Democratic rival Dr. Amy Acton.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also defended the ad, even as Republican leaders across Ohio, including Gov. Mike DeWine, have called for its removal.
‘In recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to,’ Obama said of Ramaswamy, noting that Acton has ‘spoken movingly about her painful childhood and all she’s experienced: abuse, neglect and homelessness.’
‘There’s a decency we should expect out of our public officials,’ Obama continued. ‘And I don’t know what’s happened where the standards of behavior are so low that somebody could run an ad like that.’
Obama, 65, remains the Democratic Party’s best motivator nearly a decade after leaving the White House.
He was set to campaign in Michigan later on Saturday night, lending the Democratic Party his star power in midwestern battlegrounds that will help determine the balance of power in American politics next week.
Obama shared the stage with Acton and former three-term Ohio Senator Sharrod Brown who is looking to unseat Republican Senator Jon Husted.
Although Ohio has become more reliably Republican, it has been a hotly contested battleground this year.
Trump and Vance have both visited the state in recent weeks to drum up support for Husted and Ramaswamy. And the controversy over Ramaswamy’s ad has ratcheted up the already high temperature.
Ramaswamy has defended his decision to press ahead with the ad as fair game.
Trump aggressively defended the ad, which has emerged as a national flashpoint in the midterms’ final days, as he voted in West Palm Beach on Saturday.
‘This is a disgrace,’ Trump said. ‘The mother said that Amy Acton is a liar and she’s no good. And you know what? I don’t think you can get a better reference on that.’
He added that if his own mother had said anything bad about him, it would be front and center.
The Ramaswamy campaign video features Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, calling her ‘a liar’ and insinuating she has mental health issues.
Democratic Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown speaks during a campaign rally on Saturday
Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sparked outrage with an ad featuring his Democratic rival Amy Acton’s estranged mom, who accuses her daughter of lying
Vivek Ramaswamy has refused to withdraw the controversial attack ad despite criticism from fellow Republicans, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine
Acton, Ohio’s COVID-19-era health director, has made no secret of facing homelessness and abuse as a child.
Arthur lost custody of her children after their stepfather, Arthur’s husband, was indicted on a charge of rape involving Acton.
The abuse allegedly happened from December 1976 to April 1978. Cledith Arthur failed to show for a court appearance and became a fugitive. Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death in 2004.
Appearing before Obama, Acton spoke as if addressing Ramaswamy directly.
‘My opponent has chosen to exploit, intentionally, my childhood to save his stumbling campaign, but it’s not going to work,’ she said. ‘Decency still matters.’
She added: ‘Mr. Ramaswamy, you are not just out of touch, you are out for yourself and you are a danger to my state. Apparently there is no low to which you won’t stoop.’
In Ohio, Obama also called out Trump’s inability to lower costs, a key campaign promise, noting that the president has instead focused on building a new White House ballroom and helipad on the South Lawn.
‘I don´t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovation,’ he quipped. ‘He should be on HGTV.’
He went on: ‘There’s gold everywhere. He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.’
The former Democratic president acknowledged that the nation has Trump for another two years, until his term ends. But voters are not stuck with Trump’s allies, he said.
‘We’re not stuck with a spineless Congress and Republican governors who are handling lawlessness and carelessness and cruelty and indifference for working people,’ Obama said.
‘After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence … you get a chance to say enough is enough.’
