**🚨 BREAKING: Donald Trump Once Again at the Center of Online Discussion After Barack Obama Releases Widely Shared Video Message Sharply Criticizing Recent Political Developments**

February 14, 2026 – Chicago / Palm Beach

Barack Obama has broken months of public silence with a 7-minute video message posted to his official X account and YouTube channel this afternoon, delivering one of the most direct and unsparing critiques of Donald Trump’s second term yet to come from a former president. The clip, which has already surpassed 28 million views in under six hours, focuses on what Obama describes as “a dangerous erosion of constitutional norms, institutional independence, and basic democratic trust” that has accelerated dramatically in the past 45 days.

Sitting in a simple, book-lined study wearing a dark sweater, Obama speaks in the measured, deliberate cadence that defined his presidency — but the content is anything but restrained.

“We are witnessing something I never thought I would see in my lifetime,” he begins. “A former president, removed from office under the 25th Amendment by his own cabinet and vice president, continues to direct executive-branch personnel, shape policy, and interfere in active Department of Justice leadership decisions — all while no longer holding any constitutional authority to do so. That is not normal. That is not acceptable. That is a direct challenge to the peaceful transfer of power and the rule of law that has sustained this republic for nearly 250 years.”

– The sudden installation of Eric Schmitt as acting attorney general following pressure reportedly applied by Trump from Mar-a-Lago
– The reported attempts to slow-walk or redirect federal investigations still pending against him
– The continued public direction of Republican congressional strategy and midterm messaging despite being legally sidelined
– The inflammatory Truth Social posts calling for “retribution” against political opponents and “traitors” inside his own party

Obama does not mince words on the constitutional implications.

“When a private citizen — even one who once held the office — can effectively veto cabinet appointments, dictate Justice Department personnel moves, and issue marching orders to members of Congress, we are no longer operating under the Constitution we all swore to defend. We are operating under something else entirely. Call it a shadow presidency, call it a parallel government — whatever name you give it, it is incompatible with democracy.”

The video quickly became the dominant topic across every major social platform. Within the first hour #ObamaSpeaks and #ShadowPresidency were the top two global trends on X. Clips of individual lines — particularly “We are no longer operating under the Constitution we all swore to defend” — were remixed, subtitled in multiple languages, and shared millions of times.

Trump responded within 22 minutes on Truth Social with a 14-post thread that began:

“Barack Hussein Obama — the man who spied on my campaign, weaponized the DOJ against me, and ran the biggest HOAX in American history — now wants to lecture ME about the Constitution? SAD! He’s the one who created the deep state. I’m the one who’s fighting to DESTROY IT. The American people know the TRUTH. We’re WINNING BIG!!!”

The response drew more than 1.4 million likes and retweets combined, but also triggered a flood of community notes and fact-check overlays pointing out that multiple investigations (Mueller, Durham, Inspector General reports) found no evidence Obama personally ordered surveillance of the Trump campaign.

Reactions split sharply along predictable lines:

– Progressive accounts and many independents praised Obama for “finally saying the quiet part out loud.”
– MAGA supporters called it “bitter sore-loser talk from a failed one-term legacy president.”
– Moderate Republicans and institutional conservatives expressed more discomfort. Sen. Mitt Romney posted simply: “Former presidents should speak when the moment demands it. This may be one of those moments.”
– Several Trump-appointed judges and former DOJ officials privately told reporters they found the video “sobering” but declined to comment publicly.

Media coverage was immediate and wall-to-wall. CNN ran the full clip with live analysis. Fox News devoted two segments to “Obama’s latest attack on Trump,” framing it as partisan interference in an ongoing constitutional process. Late-night hosts had their opening monologues written before the video even finished uploading: Jimmy Kimmel: “Obama just dropped a seven-minute nuke on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago shadow government. I haven’t seen a takedown this clean since the last time Obama played basketball.”

The video’s release comes at an exceptionally fragile moment. Acting President Vance is still attempting to stabilize the executive branch after the 25th Amendment invocation. The House is preparing for a potential vote to challenge the Senate’s action. Markets are jittery. And public trust in institutions is already at historic lows. Obama’s intervention — calm, direct, and devoid of personal insults — has been interpreted by many as an attempt to re-center the conversation on constitutional principles rather than partisan score-settling.

Yet the former president did not entirely avoid the personal. Toward the end of the message he said:

“I disagreed deeply with many of Donald Trump’s policies. But I never questioned his right to hold the office once the people chose him. What we are seeing now is different. This is no longer about policy disagreement. This is about whether the Constitution still means what it says — or whether it can be overridden by force of personality and private pressure.”

As of late Friday evening, the video had been viewed more than 41 million times. It has been translated into 14 languages via community subtitles. Clips are being played at anti-Trump rallies in major cities and shared in encrypted group chats among Trump supporters as evidence of “the establishment’s panic.”

Whether Obama’s words ultimately influence the House vote, the public mood, or the trajectory of the unfolding constitutional crisis remains uncertain. But one thing is already clear: in a nation that has rarely been more divided, a seven-minute video from a former president has — for at least one evening — united millions of people in the act of watching, arguing, and wondering what happens next.