Trump's late-night posting binge includes bogus "treason" claim against Obama, but the real story is Tulsi Gabbard's presence at FBI raid in Georgia

Why was Tulsi Gabbard at FBI raid in Georgia? (NBC News)

Any American who still doubts that a madman presides over the White House should put those qualms to rest after President Donald Trump unleashed a torrent of crazed social-media posts overnight on Thursday (1/29/26). Trump long has been known for posting online screeds in the middle of the night, so much in fact that quite a few observers have asked, in so many words, "When does this guy ever sleep?"

Yesterday's keyboard session was notable because it essentially was a rerun of "Trump's Greatest Hits," focusing on chestnuts of insanity that made their debut in May-July of 2025. Those include claims that former President Barack Obama had tapped Trump's phones, thus committing "treason" that required an arrest and prosecution; claims that China, Iran, and Italy (among others) helped Obama "install (Joe) Biden as a puppet"; and claims that his 2020 defeat to Biden was partially the result of a "crooked" election in Georgia.

By continuing to gripe about his 2020 loss in Georgia, Trump opened the door for what might become a major story involving Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. That's because Gabbard was spotted on Wednesday (1/28/29) at an election center in Fulton County, GA, where the FBI conducted a raid seeking ballots from the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has falsely claimed he won. All of this is giving off early whiffs of a scandal, raising questions such as:

(1) Was the FBI raid designed to bolster Trump's claim that he was the victim of election fraud in 2020?

(2) Was the raid designed to find evidence of wrongdoing by Obama, Biden, or other Democrats, continuing the retribution tour against perceived political opponents that has been a hallmark of Trump's  second term?

(3) Why was Gabbard present at the raid, given that her job is to track threats from foreign adversaries? In fact, Gabbard is prohibited by law from taking part in domestic law enforcement. Is she unaware of restrictions on her job?

(4) With Trump struggling to stay afloat amid self-inflicted headaches in Minnesota, Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Denmark, and all over Europe -- where allies now seem to be distancing themselves from a "strong man" regime that appears to have shattered their trust -- will the press smell weakness and launch investigative efforts that could produce Watergate-style revelations?

As for Trump's madcap posting session, the mainstream press largely ignored it, probably because it included recycled claims he made last year -- almost all of which have been discredited. Several left-leaning online sites, however, spotlighted the story of a president whose mental health has come under growing scrutiny. Trump's latest series of rants are not likely to ease concerns that he is not all there. The following is from a HuffPost report under the headline "Trump Makes Wild Accusation Against Obama In Unhinged Evening Posting Spree." Deputy Editor Ed Mazza writes:

Many are calling on President Donald Trump to help turn down the national temperature in the wake of the violence in Minneapolis, which included federal agents shooting and killing two American citizens. Instead, Trump on Wednesday evening went on a posting spree, sharing memes, conspiracy theories and outright lies.

In one post on his Truth Social site, he accused former President Barack Obama of “treason”:

The post included a video from last summer in which Trump claimed Obama was caught “absolutely cold” trying to “rig” elections, along with former President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former FBI director James Comey.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader,” Trump claimed in the video.

“It’s there, he’s guilty. This was treason, this was every word you can think of,” he added.

         No such evidence has ever emerged. 

In fact, Trump frequently uses the word treason, but there is little reason to believe he knows what it means. Just because an intellectually challenged president -- who has no clue about most matters of constitutional import -- makes an outrageous claim, it does not mean Barack Obama ever came close to committing actual treason. As Pete Williams of NBC News reported in 2019:

Once again . . . President Donald Trump used the T-word, this time saying that former FBI officials who were involved in investigating his campaign committed treason.

Asked at a White House event which of his adversaries he had in mind when he accused them of treason, he said, "A number of people. They have unsuccessfully tried to take down the wrong person." He then specified former FBI director James Comey, former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and former FBI agent Peter Strzok.

"That's treason. They couldn't win the election, and that's what happened."

But that isn't what the Constitution says treason is. It doesn’t mean being disloyal to the president. And it certainly would not apply to any actions against a private citizen, which Donald Trump was as a candidate for president.

Here's what the Constitution says (Article III, Section 3): "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

"Enemy" means a country or an entity that has declared war or is in a state of open war against the US. "Aid and comfort" must be something material, not words of encouragement.

Trump's confusion about treason was not even the most bizarre claim he made in the wee hours of Thursday. Mazza writes:

In addition, Trump shared a bizarre post claiming China, Iran, Italy, Merrill Lynch, the CIA, the FBI and others all worked with Obama to “install Biden as a puppet.” There’s no evidence for any of that, either, but Trump has for years pushed conspiracy theories about the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Earlier in the day, the FBI executed a search warrant at a Georgia election office. That’s the same state where Trump infamously demanded that Georgia’s Republican secretary of state “find” enough votes for him to win during a phone call he made after losing the 2020 election.

Trump also shared two posts claiming that Walmart would be closing 250 stores in California due to the state’s minimum wage. Although that’s not true, Trump included these lies along with other attacks against California and its Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, who is considering a run for president in 2028.

Newsom fired back with a response from his “Press Office” account:

In the last 60 minutes, the President has posted 56 times on Truth Social.

One post claims Walmart is closing 85% of its California stores because of our "$22 minimum wage."

Another features an AI-generated video in which a robot accuses Gov. Newsom of running a drug-money laundering scheme out of the Governor's Office with the Mexican cartel.

Just to clarify:

-- Walmart's 303 stores in California are open.

-- The AI robot is lying. Gov. Newsom is not Pablo Escobar.

We cannot believe we have to say any of this out loud.

We cannot believe this is real life.

And we truly cannot believe this man has the nuclear codes.

Deep breaths, everyone. Three more years.

What could be the fallout of Trump's visit to the "Land of Looney Tunes"? I suspect the president will come to regret the FBI raid in Georgia, especially if he ordered it? I suspect he also will regret not ordering Tulsi Gabbard to stay away from the raid. In fact, he likely will regret ever nominating her as intelligence chief because she has set herself up to become the centerpiece of an unsightly scandal.

We will explore these and related issues in upcoming posts.