Trump Says He Could've Done 'Very Bad Things' to Clinton, Biden, and Obama
Facing questions about possible impeachment after the midterms, Trump said he had declined to act against Clinton, Biden, and Obama out of respect for the presidency, while asserting he retained the power to do so.
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he could have done “very bad things” to Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama but had chosen to hold back.
The remarks came during an Oval Office event announcing automatic enrollment for eligible children in Trump Accounts, the tax-advantaged investment program established under legislation he signed.
A reporter asked what grounds Democrats would have to impeach him if they won control of both chambers of Congress in November.
Trump said they did not know, before turning to his own opportunities to act against political rivals.
Claim of Restraint
“I could’ve done very bad things to Hillary Clinton. I could’ve done very, very bad things to Joe Biden. I could’ve done very bad things to Barack Hussein Obama,” Trump said.
He did not specify what those actions would have involved.
“I thought it was inappropriate to do so because you have to treat the office of the presidency with respect,” he added.
Trump said others had encouraged him to pursue the three Democrats, but that he had rejected their appeals.
He also suggested the opportunity remained available to him.
The exchange combined that stated respect for the office with an assertion of personal discretion: “I can do whatever I want.”
He accused his predecessors of illegal conduct without identifying specific acts in the supplied account of the exchange.
Impeachment in View
Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have argued that Democratic control of Congress would bring another effort to impeach him.
Trump referred to the two impeachments of his first term, one concerning the 2019 Ukraine call and the other following January 6, 2021.
The Senate acquitted him in both proceedings.
His comments repeated an argument he had made several days earlier when asked about a possible third impeachment: that he could have pursued Clinton or Biden but considered doing so inappropriate.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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