“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” President Trump wrote. It’s unclear how President Trump’s usage of the word “McCarthyism,” was related to his problems with President Obama. McCarthyism is historically defined as a movement in the 1940s and 1950s led by Sen. Joe McCarthy to identify communist sympathizers in the United States.

>> PREVIOUS STORY: Trump accuses Obama of tapping phone before election

Following news of Trump's allegations, Obama's spokesman issued the following statement on behalf of the 44th president:

"A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice," Kevin Lewis wrote.

“As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.”

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Trump has not yet provided any proof or explanation as to why he believes his phone was tapped.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com