Former United States President Barack Obama has criticised some recent actions of President Donald Trump, warning that core American values are under threat and calling out what he sees as a dangerous silence from the Republican leader.
Obama made the remarks during a conversation with Hamilton College President, Steven Tepper, where he expressed concern over what he described as troubling trends under Trump’s leadership.
The former President faulted the White House’s decision to revoke The Associated Press’s access to key West Wing areas after the news agency refused to adopt the term “Gulf of America,” following Trump’s decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama said he is “deeply concerned” by actions from the White House over its crackdown on student protesters and universities to its pressure on law firms and the press — arguing that such behavior would never have been tolerated from any of his predecessors.
“It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors,” Obama said, condemning the administration’s decision to restrict Associated Press access after the agency refused to adopt Trump’s push to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
“Imagine if I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps,” he added. “I say this not on a partisan basis. This has to do with something more precious, which is who are we as a country and what values do we stand for?”
Obama also urged ordinary Americans, colleges, and law firms to be prepared to “possibly sacrifice” in defence of democratic principles — setting the stage for a broader call to action.
“It is up to all of us to fix this,” Obama said, adding that his call was for “the citizen, the ordinary person who says, ‘No, that’s not right.’”
While he disagreed with Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, Obama expressed greater concern over the administration’s threats to cut federal funding to universities that refuse to drop diversity programs or enforce controversial protest guidelines.
“I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” Obama said.
“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” he added.
He urged schools and students to scrutinize whether they had genuinely broken any rules or were merely being bullied: “If not, and you’re just being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, ‘That’s why we got this big endowment.’”