Trump Calls Obama 'Grossly Incompetent' After Cheesecake Factory Remark

President Donald Trump has answered former President Barack Obama's return to the campaign trail, calling his predecessor "grossly incompetent" hours after Obama mocked Trump's White House renovations in Cleveland, The Sun reported. "Obama was a grossly incompetent President!" Trump said, according to Inshorts' report of the exchange on Sunday. "He paid off Iran with billions of dollars, and gave them a road to a nuclear weapon," Trump further said.

Obama's remarks came Saturday at Cleveland Public Auditorium, his first campaign rally of the 2026 midterm elections, where he campaigned for Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton. He described Trump's second term as "two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption" and called the administration's top officials "not serious people," The Sun reported. On Trump's gold-tinted White House projects — the Rose Garden revamp and the new ballroom — Obama said: "He should be on HGTV. He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere."

Trump responded on Saturday ahead of his own Michigan rally, telling reporters Obama had been a "lousy president," The Sun reported. He then took to Truth Social to hit back and to further his endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race, calling Rogers' Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, a "Muslim Brotherhood Jihadist" and "fake doctor" — characterizations reported by The Sun as Trump's words. Obama had attended a Detroit rally for El-Sayed on Saturday after the Cleveland event.

The exchange also pulled in Ohio's governor race. Obama criticized a controversial campaign ad by Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy against Acton, saying there appeared to be "no line" Ramaswamy would not cross, The Sun reported, citing The New York Times. Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended Ramaswamy in the aftermath of the ad, The Sun reported.