Obama and Trump trade criticism at rival midterm rallies

At a rally in Atlanta, Obama accused Trump of launching an unnecessary war with Iran. “The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions, the most important of which was to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for,” he said. He argued that the conflict had run down US missile stocks and given Iran veto power over the Strait of Hormuz, driving up oil prices. He also criticised Trump’s tariffs, saying economists had said consumers pay the tab. “Rather than having the tariffs bring down deficits like he said he would, we’re now running a debt to the tune of $40 trillion,” Obama said. He singled out the trade war with Canada, calling it “the big trade war he’s waging now is that well-known evil empire, Canada.”

The rallies came as the US remains embroiled in a conflict with Iran that began with US-Israeli strikes in February. A ceasefire in April and a memorandum of understanding in June both collapsed, and efforts to secure peace have stalled over Iran’s nuclear programme, US sanctions and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, speaking in Ohio, defended his Iran policy, saying he had terminated the Obama-era nuclear deal. “We obliterated Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity,” he said, and suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.” He also announced that Venezuela had delivered one million barrels of oil to the US free of charge following the removal of President Nicolas Maduro, and said Washington was working with Venezuela to expand production.

Trump made a rare reference to Jeffrey Epstein, repeating that he had thrown Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago and accusing Democrats of having ties to him. He also defended Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over a campaign featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, which drew backlash. “Vivek was treated very unfairly,” Trump said.

Obama also mocked Trump’s plans for White House renovations, joking the president “should be on HGTV” and that the White House now resembled “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Trump responded that the White House had been in poor condition and that he had paid for repairs himself. “It’s never looked more beautiful,” he said.

Obama closed his speech by invoking Martin Luther King Jr., saying the country’s problems are about values. “There is a moral component to the choices we face right now,” he said. He warned that dishonesty and intimidation were undermining public life, and said the system would not be fixed while “people in the highest offices of the land think it’s OK to lie and cheat and bully.”