Trump Again Attacks Obama: Spreads Fake News Claiming He Received Huge Royalties

A False Claim Circulating Since 2017

President Donald Trump of the United States shared a false claim on social media that former President Barack Obama received $40 million (approximately 5.8 billion KRW) in royalties related to the public health insurance program known as Obamacare (ACA).

On November 9 (local time), President Trump posted an image on Truth Social containing the message: "Urgent: DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) has stopped the annual $2.5 million Obamacare-related royalty payments to Barack Obama. He has been receiving these since 2010, with a total amount of $40 million." Throughout the weekend, President Trump repeatedly posted criticisms of Obamacare on Truth Social, adding only the word "WOW!" to this particular image.

Donald Trump, President of the United States. Photo by Yonhap News

The claim that former President Obama receives royalties for the use of the Obamacare name has been a fake news story circulating since 2017. The "Breaking" news in the image, which states that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-the department responsible for restructuring under the Trump administration-has stopped royalty payments, is also completely unfounded.

This claim is known to have originated from the satirical website "America's Last Line of Defense." The site deliberately produces fake news to attract clicks from conservative-leaning users.

The White House spokesperson refused to answer questions about whether the President was aware that the post he shared was fictitious or whether he considered the possibility of misleading his followers. Instead, according to the British daily The Guardian, the spokesperson responded with a statement criticizing former President Obama.

Obamacare is a key issue in the ongoing U.S. federal government shutdown. The shutdown began on the first of last month after the temporary budget bill failed to pass due to disagreements between the Republican and Democratic parties over the extension of Obamacare subsidies.

President Trump continued his criticism of "Obamacare." On November 8, he stated, "I urge Republican senators to give the hundreds of billions of dollars currently paid to insurance companies-who only profit from maintaining the terrible Obamacare system-directly to the people, so they can purchase much better health insurance for themselves and still have money left over." He went on to emphasize, "We must take money away from the giant, bad insurance companies and return it to the people, and abolish Obamacare, which is the world's worst healthcare system for the amount of money spent."