Trump: Obama Wiretapped My Phones During the 2016 Election Campaign

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, accused former President Barack Obama on Saturday, March 4, of wiretapping his phones in October 2016. According to Reuters, Trump claimed this occurred late in his election campaign but did not provide evidence to support his allegation. In one of several tweets on the matter, Trump wrote: "What level has President Obama descended to, to be wiretapping my phones during the very sacred election process? This is worse than Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!" His reference is to the Watergate scandal involving former Republican President Richard Nixon, which began when some of Nixon's associates illegally entered the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Watergate on June 17, 1972, and planted microphones. Reuters reported that Barack Obama's office has not yet responded to the news agency's request for comment. The White House also did not respond to the news agency's request for further clarification on Trump's statements. However, Trump tweeted that "this wiretapping" was done at Trump Tower in New York, where he lived and worked before moving to the White House, "but [the wiretappers] found nothing." Trump added in another tweet: "Is it legal for a sitting president to be wiretapping a campaign before an election?" He continued in another message that "I bet a good lawyer could make a case out of the fact that President Obama was wiretapping my phone in October, just prior to Election!" On Saturday, CNN also reported that it had attempted to contact Barack Obama regarding this matter but had not yet succeeded.