United States: Barack Obama joins the midterm campaign and attacks Donald Trump, who hits back

Canberra, 25 October 2026. Australian outlets from the Nine group and PerthNow are covering Barack Obama's return to the midterm election scene as both a campaign event and a verbal spectacle. The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, which ran the same story, headlined with the phrase "Like Saddam opened a Cheesecake Factory" and presented the Cleveland meeting on Saturday, 24 October (US time), as his first campaign rally for these midterms, and "his most virulent attack on Trump in a long time".

The account emphasizes the contrast: Obama, "selective" in his public criticism, is said to have changed his tone. He evoked "two years of chaos, cruelty, and corruption", judged the administration's top officials as "not serious", and accused Donald Trump of having led the United States into a war in Iran "that nobody asked for", which is economically painful. On prices, he stated that the administration's actions were "directly responsible" for the rise in costs. He also mocked the attention given to the gold decorations in the White House ("He should be on HGTV") and criticized a Vivek Ramaswamy ad, a Republican candidate for Ohio governor, as a symptom of a hardening political life.

PerthNow, which picked up a wire report, broadens the scope to the institutional stakes. Ten days before a vote that will determine control of a highly divided Congress, Obama campaigned in Cleveland and then in Michigan, alongside Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Senate against Republican Mike Rogers. He presented the 3 November vote as a "circuit breaker" that would "at least put a brake on the nonsense" of the Trump presidency and "bring accountability" to the government. The text notes that Trump is asking voters to see these elections as a vote on his person, and that Obama took up the invitation.

The Australian press remains largely descriptive: little analysis of the 2015 nuclear agreement or the war in Iran, more on the campaign mechanics and Obama's value as a mobilizer of the Democratic electorate in a tight Senate race. Trump's response, his meeting in Georgia, and his nighttime messages are not mentioned in the pool's articles, which only indicate that the White House had not responded at the time of writing.

Berlin, October 25, 2026. Ten days before the November 3 midterm elections, former President Barack Obama embarked on the Democratic campaign trail on Saturday, with stops in Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. The FAZ headlines an attack described as "scharf" against Donald Trump; the Tagesschau speaks of "Korruptionsvorwurf und Spott".

Before his supporters, Obama denounced two years of "Chaos, Grausamkeit, Korruption und Inkompetenz" and presented the election as an "emergency brake" ("Notbremse") to contain "at least part of the madness" of the Trump presidency. At a rally for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, he said, "We've never seen a president enrich himself so openly at your expense." In his view, the Republican Party now seems to be defending "a corrupt government, incompetent leadership, or no government at all".

The German press also highlights other angles of attack. The FAZ recalls that Obama targeted the aggressive trade dispute with Canada and the threat of high tariffs, a sensitive topic for Michigan due to cooperation in the automotive industry. In Cleveland, where former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown wants to retake the seat from Jon Husted, he judged that the incumbent president had made "a series of bad decisions". The Tagesschau notes the remark about the renovation of the White House: Obama said it resembled a place where "Saddam Hussein would have opened a Cheesecake Factory".

On the Trump side, the Tagesschau reports that he voted early with Melania Trump. When asked by journalists about corruption, he replied that the "real corruption" was among the Democrats. He repeated that the 2020 election had been "manipulated" and that he had won it by millions of votes, which the channel describes as a false claim.

At the local level, the FAZ notes that El-Sayed is leading in many polls ahead of his Republican opponent Mike Rogers, a former member of Congress, but that his lead has recently melted away. Both media outlets thus place Obama's campaign entry in the battle for control of Congress, rather than in a fundamental debate on foreign policy.

Helsinki, October 25, 2026. The Finnish press is treating the confrontation between Barack Obama and Donald Trump as an episode in the final stretch before the November 3 midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress. Helsingin Sanomat and Ilta-Sanomat, citing American media and the New York Times, report that the former president attended two Democratic meetings on Saturday, first in Cleveland, Ohio, and then in Detroit, Michigan.

Obama described Trump's second term as "two years of chaos, cruelty, and corruption". According to Helsingin Sanomat, he added that the current administration is defined by "incompetence that we have never seen in modern times". Iltalehti also quotes his statement about Republicans, who would represent "a corrupt government, an incapable government, or no government at all". The newspaper notes that he criticized Trump for launching a war in Iran that no one had asked for, and cites a Reuters poll according to which more than 60% of Americans believe that Trump has unfairly enriched himself through cryptocurrencies.

The newspapers focus on the humorous aspects: the renovation of the White House and its ballroom, which would be more suitable for a home renovation TV show, and the phrase that Trump has made the White House look like a Cheesecake Factory restaurant opened by Saddam Hussein. MTV Uutiset notes that Obama also emphasized that Trump had not made an effort to lower consumer prices, and specifies that the video does not make it clear whether he was targeting the restaurant chain.

On Trump's side, Yle reports on his meeting in Perry, Georgia, after his early vote in Florida with Melania Trump. He announced a $4.2 billion investment by Audi in Macon, for a factory producing 200,000 cars per year, which he attributes to his tariffs. Yle specifies that the timing of the announcement was seen as support for his promise to strengthen the American industry. According to the New York Times, cited by Ilta-Sanomat, Trump called Obama a "poor president" and interpreted the criticism as a sign of the strength of the Republicans.

Yle and MTV recall that the polls give the Democrats a chance to win the majority in the House of Representatives, while the battle for the Senate is tighter. Yle adds that the Democrats accuse the Trump administration of trying to influence the election by questioning the reliability of the results in advance.

Paris, October 25, 2026. The French press is devoting extensive coverage to Barack Obama's return to the campaign trail for the November 3 midterm elections. On Saturday, October 24, the former president held a rally in Cleveland, Ohio, before heading to Michigan to support Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Senate. Le Monde, BFMTV, and 20 Minutes, which are reprinting the AFP dispatch, describe a "scathing critique" of Donald Trump.

The central quote is being repeated everywhere: "After two years of chaos, cruelty, corruption, and incompetence never seen in the modern era, you have a chance to say: Enough is enough." Obama also reproached his successor for having "decided to trigger an unnecessary war, which nobody asked for," blaming him for the rise in the cost of living. He urged his audience to vote early: "Don't procrastinate, don't dodge." HuffPost France notes his mockery of the White House's work: Trump "should be on HGTV."

On the ground, RFI is giving a voice to the activists. Its special correspondents describe a "packed" room, where Amy Acton, a candidate for governor, and Sherrod Brown, a candidate for the Senate, take the stage. They note that Obama spoke for forty minutes "without ever naming him." It was his first rally since the start of the campaign. Le Monde recalls that the polls give the Democrats a narrow lead in Ohio, ahead of Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump's response, published on Truth Social, is being reported with precision. He calls his predecessor a president of "crass incompetence" according to BFMTV, "grossly incompetent" according to HuffPost, and claims that he "handed over billions of dollars to Iran." BFMTV specifies that these statements are "factually false" and recalls that the 2015 agreement only allowed for a gradual lifting of sanctions. The channel also notes that Trump omits his 2020 defeat when mocking Obama's electoral failures, and quotes the attack on El-Sayed, whose message says that Obama "is campaigning for a Muslim Brotherhood jihadist."

20 Minutes finally notes that Trump voted early in Palm Beach, saying "Everything is fine." France 24 summarizes the stakes: the Democrats hope to retake Congress, and the cost of living is a concern for voters.

Accra, October 25, 2026. MyJoyOnline and 3News are reporting the same story of a Saturday of campaigning just ten days before the November 3 midterm elections, which will decide which party will control Congress for the rest of Donald Trump's term, and thus how easily the president will be able to carry out his projects.

Former President Barack Obama spoke in Ohio, in Cleveland, and then in Michigan. He attacked the Trump administration over the war against Iran and the high cost of living. "This election is our last best chance to slow down at least part of the madness of this administration," he told the crowd. In Cleveland, he denounced "two years of chaos, cruelty, corruption, and incompetence," which he said had no modern equivalent, urging voters to say "enough is enough." He also mocked the president's attempt to redecorate the White House and targeted members of his cabinet.

On the economic front, Obama said he understood voters who had rejected the Democrats in 2024 due to concerns about inflation after the Covid pandemic, but judged that Donald Trump had only himself to blame for the current state of the economy. Without mentioning his name, he said: "If you found everything too expensive before 'you know who', everything is even more expensive now."

The same day, Donald Trump held a rally in Georgia, where he touted his immigration policy and tariffs, telling his supporters: "we are living in the golden age of America." He acknowledged that oil prices were "temporarily high," while assuring that the country was strengthening and that prices at the pump would go down. Early voting has already begun: the president cast his ballot on Saturday in Florida, alongside First Lady Melania Trump.

The two articles, which reproduce an identical text, focus on the confrontation between the two men and the stakes of the Congressional election. They contain no Ghanaian reaction or analysis of what the war against Iran or American tariffs imply for West Africa.

Rome, October 25, 2026. For the ANSA agency as well as La Repubblica, Barack Obama's campaign day can be summed up in one scene: the former president on the stage in Detroit, alongside Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Michigan. The ANSA title says it outright: Obama "gives a boost" ("tira la volata") to El-Sayed, a phrase borrowed from cycling vocabulary to describe someone who launches a teammate's sprint.

The agency emphasizes the register of change. "We're breathing an air of change," Obama said in opening his speech. Looking back on his nearly twenty years of political life, he joked that he had been campaigning for too long, before adding that this experience allows him to "understand when an election comes that gives a slightly different feeling." He described an electorate "ready for something new, wanting something better, so tired and exhausted that it can't take it anymore." In Michigan, he said, that's exactly what he perceives "at this moment."

ANSA also notes the jab at Donald Trump, which it describes as a "not very veiled attack": Washington "needs serious people," and "this is not the time for reality shows." Obama argued that voters should elect candidates like El-Sayed, who, in his opinion, "understands what ails us" and what destabilizes the country to such an extent.

La Repubblica puts the stakes on the Senate terrain. Its summary describes Michigan as one of the toughest tests of the midterm election, where Democrats are betting on the "rising star of progressives." The newspaper highlights the symbolic dimension of the lineup: the first black president is mobilized to convince the most skeptical electorate to elect the first Muslim senator. Its title takes up Obama's defense against accusations of extremism: "What extremist, he speaks like Roosevelt."

The Italian account thus remains centered on the electoral dynamic and the figure of El-Sayed rather than on the exchange of insults with the White House. In the provided texts, Trump's response, the Iran dossier, or prices do not structure the reading: the emphasis is on the image of a "tired" country and the bet that Michigan can swing ten days before the November 3 election.

Abuja, October 25, 2026. The Nigerian press is covering Barack Obama's trip to Ohio and Michigan on Saturday, October 24, as a duel over the cost of living, ten days before the November 3 midterm elections. Vanguard and Daily Post Nigeria report that the former president launched in Cleveland: "After two years of chaos, cruelty, corruption, and incompetence, (…) you have the chance to say: enough is enough."

The three titles emphasize the link Obama establishes between the war against Iran and the rise in prices. Nigerian Eye quotes his phrase: "This is why the price of oil is rising. Nobody disputes it. This is why the price of diesel is rising." The media specifies that the conflict, launched at the end of February by American and Israeli strikes, is entering its eighth month and gives Tehran increased leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for global oil and gas.

Nigerian Eye also relays Obama's argument about the 2015 nuclear agreement: Obama asserts that Iran did not have an atomic bomb thanks to an agreement, without "firing a missile," and that his successor withdrew from it before launching the war. He mentions attacks against allies and American bases, American losses, and depleted missile stocks.

On the economy, Nigerian Eye reports that Obama recognizes that inflation has driven away voters from the Democrats in 2024, but assures that the situation has worsened: "If you found everything too expensive before 'you know who,' everything is more expensive now." Daily Post and Vanguard describe an election that will decide control of Congress and note that Obama remains popular among the Democratic base, which the party is trying to mobilize.

These two titles detail the local issues: in Ohio, former Senator Sherrod Brown is attempting a comeback against Republican Senator Jon Husted, and Amy Acton is facing Vivek Ramaswamy for the governor's post. The polls give a slight lead to the Democrats, with tight results expected. At the national level, the Democrats could retake the House of Representatives, but the Senate remains much more contested.

The Nigerian account is centered on Obama's words; the available texts devote little space to Donald Trump's response.

Islamabad, October 25, 2026. The English-language Pakistani press has almost verbatim reproduced the Reuters agency dispatch on Barack Obama's campaign entry, treating it as an episode of American domestic politics: ten days before the November 3 election, which will decide the control of a "closely divided" Congress, the former president took to the stage on Saturday for Democratic candidates.

Business Recorder and Geo News lead with a reversal: Donald Trump tells voters to consider the midterm elections as if his name were on the ballot, and that's what "one of his Democratic predecessors" did on Saturday. Obama held meetings in Cleveland and Detroit, according to the texts, and campaigned in Michigan for Abdul El-Sayed, a Senate candidate facing Republican Mike Rogers, a former member of the House of Representatives.

The articles detail the tone of the attack. Obama accuses the Republican president of corruption, mocks his strategy towards Iran, and criticizes the gilding applied to the White House renovations. He presents the vote as a "circuit breaker" to "at least slow down some of the madness" of the Trump presidency, and calls for "bringing accountability to this government." The most repeated quote: "We've never seen a president excel so much in outright fraud, at your expense." He adds that the Republican party now seems to be defending "a corrupt, or inept, or absent government."

The Geo News headline, which talks about Obama "tearing into" Trump on corruption, the war in Iran, and a "tacky" White House makeover, puts the war against Iran on the same level as domestic grievances. The text indicates that the Democrats hope, with Obama, to mobilize their base in a tight Senate race, the former president remaining one of the most popular figures in the Democratic camp.

The White House's viewpoint is reduced to a single phrase: it had not immediately responded to a request for comment. The provided articles do not report on Trump's meeting in Georgia or his nighttime response on Truth Social; Pakistani coverage thus remains focused on Obama's offensive, without local editorial commentary or perspective specific to South Asia.

London, 25 October 2026. For the British press, Barack Obama's entry into the campaign transforms the end of the midterm race into a duel between two presidents. The BBC recalls the stakes: the November 3 election "will decide which party controls Congress for the rest of Trump's term", and thus how easily the president can implement his projects.

On Saturday, October 24, the former president campaigned in Cleveland, Ohio, and then in Detroit, Michigan. According to the BBC, he presented this vote as "our last best chance to slow down at least part of the madness of this administration" and denounced "two years of chaos, cruelty, corruption, and incompetence". He also said he understood voters who had rejected the Democrats in 2024 for reasons of inflation, while estimating that Donald Trump had only himself to blame: "everything is more expensive now".

The Independent focuses on the Iranian aspect. Obama judged that "these are not serious people" and that Americans are paying the price. Recalling that the war, launched with Israel at the end of February, has been going on for nearly eight months, he asserted that Iran did not have nuclear weapons because its 2015 agreement had prevented it: "I didn't have to fire a missile". The newspaper notes that Trump had withdrawn from this text during his first term. It also details the electoral geography: Sherrod Brown against Senator Jon Husted in Ohio, and Abdul El-Sayed against Mike Rogers in Michigan, an election where the black vote in Detroit could count.

The Daily Mail adopts a more spectacular tone. It evokes an "extraordinary war of words", Obama mocking the White House's work and the president's golden tastes. Trump retorted in Georgia, in Perry, boasting of his customs duties, which he claims would bring in billions of investments, and then, just before 1 am, on Truth Social, calling his predecessor a "grossly incompetent president" and recalling the defeats of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2024. The BBC notes that he boasted of "America's golden age" and voted early in Florida with Melania Trump.

The British tone remains that of an observer of American domestic politics, attentive to the parliamentary balance of power, key candidates, and the cost of living, more than the diplomatic scope of the Iranian dossier.

Washington, October 25, 2026. On Saturday, October 24, just ten days before the November 3 midterm elections, Barack Obama campaigned in Cleveland, Ohio, for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. The Hill describes a speech "full of quips and punchlines" in which the former president took aim at Donald Trump's policies, members of his cabinet, and Republican candidates.

The most repeated phrase concerns the work at the White House. "I don't know if you've noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV," Obama said, before adding about the gilding: "He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory." The Hill estimates the total cost of Trump's projects in Washington at over $900 million. Obama also mocked the Lincoln Memorial basin: "The only thing that got drained was the Reflecting Pool," he said, twisting Trump's 2016 promise to "drain the swamp." The Hill recalls that algae were reported after the renovated basin was inaugurated in June, and that Trump announced on Friday that the refilling was 85% complete.

Fox News reports the same scene but adds a factual counterpoint: according to the network, the renovations include several functional amenities, such as the limestone terrace of the rose garden, the granite helipad inaugurated on September 21, and the ballroom intended to replace tents for large events.

Obama also targeted Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth: "he's very focused on important matters like the jawlines and testosterone levels of our troops." According to The Hill, he presented this attention to the appearance of soldiers as a distraction that contributed to the prolongation of the conflict with Iran. The newspaper reports that Democratic senators are discreetly considering, according to senatorial sources, Hegseth's departure after the election, in exchange for their cooperation on defense issues.

On the same day, Obama gave his support in a video on X to Democratic candidates in Florida: Angie Nixon for the Senate, against Republican Senator Ashley Moody, and David Jolly for governor. He recalls that Nixon defends a minimum wage of $15 and that Jolly, a former Republican elected official, is "independent-minded." Obama had won Ohio in 2008 and 2012, and Florida in both of his presidential campaigns.

Pretoria, October 25, 2026. The two South African titles that address the subject, TimesLIVE and Business Day, publish the same text, a dispatch pickup that also includes a message from Sky News dated October 24. Their angle is that of an American electoral joust, seen from afar and without connection to South Africa.

The text opens with a reversal: Donald Trump "repeated to voters to see the midterm elections as if he were himself on the ballot," and on Saturday, one of his Democratic predecessors did exactly that. Ten days before an election that will determine control of a "closely divided" Congress, Barack Obama went on the campaign trail to accuse the Republican president of corruption, mock his strategy towards Iran, and ridicule the golden aesthetic he has given to the White House renovations.

Obama campaigned for Democratic candidates during rallies in Ohio, in Cleveland, and then in Detroit. He said the Trump administration showed "incompetence, such as we have not seen in modern times." In Michigan, alongside Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, he presented the November 3 vote as a "circuit breaker," to "at least slow down some of the nonsense" of the Trump presidency. He added: "We need to flip this switch and bring a bit of accountability back to this government."

The two newspapers recall that Obama, president from 2009 until Trump's arrival in 2017, remains one of the most popular figures among Democrats. The party hopes his presence will mobilize his supporters in a tight Senate race, where El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers, a former House member. The former president, according to the text, played to the crowd on the criticisms that Democrats often repeat against Trump and against the complacency of Republicans towards him.

The text specifies that Sky News requested comment from the White House. In the excerpts provided, Donald Trump's response, his rallies, and the details of the war against Iran do not appear; the South African coverage is limited to Obama's speech and the stakes of the Congress.