Trump Says SCOTUS Immunity Ruling Could Protect Obama: ‘He Owes Me Big’
President Donald Trump said Friday that the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity could very well shield former President Barack Obama from prosecution over his administration’s role in the now-debunked Russia collusion hoax — but emphasized that others involved will not enjoy the same protection.
“It probably helps him a lot,” Trump said when asked whether the high court’s 2024 ruling would prevent legal consequences for Obama. “But it doesn’t help the people around him at all.”
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, didn’t hold back: “He’s done criminal acts. There’s no question about it. But he has immunity, and it probably helps him a lot. He owes me big. Obama owes me big.”
Trump correctly says Obama would benefit from the Supreme Court’s presidential powers ruling last year, making it hard to prosecute him for 2016 actions. “Obama owes me big.” pic.twitter.com/XWjsaLUxfx
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 25, 2025
The president was referring to the 6–3 Supreme Court decision that granted sitting and former presidents broad immunity for official acts carried out while in office. The ruling, which significantly benefited Trump in legal battles tied to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference case, now appears to extend similar legal shelter to Obama regarding actions taken in 2016.
Still, Trump made it clear that the people who carried out what he has long called a “criminal conspiracy” would not be spared.
“Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader,” Trump said. “Hillary Clinton was right there with him, and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them — Comey, Clapper, the whole group. They tried to rig an election, and then they got caught.”
The comments came just days after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a tranche of documents showing that the Obama administration had suppressed internal intelligence assessments that concluded Russia neither intended nor had the capacity to alter the outcome of the 2016 election.
Gabbard, who now oversees the nation’s intelligence apparatus under Trump, said the documents show a “treasonous conspiracy” orchestrated from the highest levels of the federal government. She named Obama’s National Security Council, then-DNI James Clapper, and top CIA officials as key players in crafting a bogus narrative to discredit Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.
In a fiery exchange with reporters, Gabbard laid out the timeline of events, noting that the original intelligence assessments contradicted the politically charged version Obama later pushed.
“The intelligence community had one assessment — that Russia did not have the intent or capability to change the election,” Gabbard said. “That changed only after Obama personally directed Clapper to manufacture a new report for public consumption.”
The Obama camp swiftly pushed back. A spokesman for the former president dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.” But Gabbard responded bluntly, saying that denying obvious manipulation of intelligence is “a disservice to the American people.”
Trump said Tuesday that those involved should face “severe consequences,” and that “it’s time to go after people.”
While the Supreme Court’s ruling may provide a legal shield for Obama himself, Trump emphasized that does not apply to others. “They’re not protected by the court’s decision. And they’re going to be held accountable,” he said.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it has formed a specialized “strike force” to evaluate the declassified evidence presented by Gabbard’s office. Officials said the team will review the documents “for potential next steps.”
With the Epstein investigation escalating and now the Russiagate architects in the crosshairs, Trump’s message was clear: “Accountability is coming.”