Allegations of Barack Obama spying on Donald Trump
As part of a larger conspiracy theory, Donald Trump posited that Barack Obama had spied on him, which Trump described as "the biggest political crime in American history, by far." The series of accusations have been nicknamed Obamagate. Obama had served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 until 2017, when Trump succeeded him; Trump served as the 45th president until 2021 (first presidency) and later he was re-elected in 2024 as the 47th president (second presidency).
During key points of the 2020 campaign, including the Republican National Convention and both presidential debates, Trump frequently repeated this theory, claiming "they spied on my campaign" in reference to these allegations. The specific allegations of inappropriate politically motivated surveillance or "spying" all involve the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Crossfire Hurricane investigation of the Trump campaign and transition and their ties to Russia. No evidence has been found that legal surveillance, as part of Crossfire Hurricane, was at the direction of Obama, Obama administration political officials or improper deep state influence, or that the Steele dossier was used to launch the Russia probe, or that the surveillance was designed to surveil the Trump campaign and Trump White House transition team for political purposes.
Trump has claimed that as part of Crossfire Hurricane, his "wires" at Trump Tower were wiretapped. This was refuted by Trump's own Justice Department. In addition, Trump has claimed that after the Crossfire Hurricane investigation recorded Michael Flynn's conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Flynn was improperly "unmasked". This was also refuted by the Trump Justice Department. Specific actions undertaken by the FBI that have been highlighted include the use of an informant who met with Trump advisors Sam Clovis, George Papadopoulos, and Carter Page, as well as obtaining a FISA warrant to legally surveil Carter Page after he left the Trump campaign.
The Inspector General report on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation did not find evidence that "political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision to seek FISA authority on Carter Page", but did point out serious inconsistencies and improper procedures that were followed with regard to the obtaining of the warrants. The Inspector General wrote that his review "found no evidence that the FBI attempted to place any" FBI source in the Trump campaign. The review also "found no evidence" that the FBI had tried to "recruit members of the Trump campaign" to serve as their sources. Finally, the review did not produce evidence that "political bias or improper motivations influenced" the FBI's usage of confidential sources or undercover agents for interactions with members of Trump's campaign.
In July 2025, Tulsi Gabbard distributed documents that she insinuated placed guilt for certain members of the Obama administration, that she termed "treasonous", and were a part of the Obamagate conspiracy theory. Several days later Trump accused and affirmed Gabbard's allegations during a July 22 meeting with the Philippine President Bongbong Marcos, where he claimed Obama attempted a failed "coup" in the 2016 election which implicated former President Obama for treason. That same day a spokesperson for Obama's office stated that normally out of respect for the office of the Presidency, Obama's office rarely made public comments, however as Trump's claims were both "outrageous" and "bizarre" the situation called for a response. The spokesperson added that these allegations were attempts at "distraction". Political commentators have suggested that by distraction, that Trump was using the Obamagate conspiracy theory to deflect allegations that Trump was involved with the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal.