Former President Barack Obama threw shade at President Donald Trump after he made America’s birthday all about himself.
On the eve of Independence Day, a buoyant Trump was giddy with excitement as he worked the crowd at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa. The event was intended to be a bipartisan celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
However, it soon devolved into the Trump show. He ranted about hating Democrats, used an anti-Semitic term, and rolled off his recent achievements: “We’ve saved our country,” he boasted. “We got great marks in the first term, and this is going to blow it away.”
Trump was buoyant after Congress narrowly passed his “Big Beautiful Bill.”
“This has been a great two weeks,” he added. “Has anybody ever had a better two weeks?”
Obama was keen to remind people that the USA is not a one-man show.
“Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ America is owned by no one. It belongs to all citizens,” he said.
Obama continued: “And at this moment in history—when core democratic principles seem to be continuously under attack, when too many people around the world have become cynical and disengaged—now is precisely the time to ask ourselves tough questions about how we can build our democracies and make them work in meaningful and practical ways for ordinary people.”
Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ America is owned by no one. It belongs to all citizens. And at this moment in…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 4, 2025
The White House has been contacted for comment.
Obama’s post comes after Obama and former President George W. Bush joined forces to shoot down Trump’s “colossal mistake” to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
In a video message to staffers on Monday, the day before USAID was folded into the State Department, the two former presidents decried Trump’s dismantling of the agency.
“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said.
Bush was even more pointed, slamming cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which USAID is tasked with implementing.
“Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,” Bush said.
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