Obama Slams Presidential Side Hustles and Trump’s Corrupt Pardons

Former President Barack Obama delivered a sharp rebuke of the Trump era’s blatant conflicts of interest and political corruption during a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Speaking from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Obama made clear that the presidency demands a strict firewall between public duty and private business.

“A good policy that I’d like to see followed is that the president of the United States shouldn’t have a bunch of side hustles that those companies and foreign entities can invest in,” Obama said. This “pretty obvious principle” directly challenges the Trump administration’s tangled web of business dealings, including the controversial acceptance of a Qatari jet slated to become Air Force One and private companies bankrolling a $400 million White House ballroom.

Obama’s critique hits at the core of Trump’s corrupt approach: mixing personal profit with the highest office in the land. The rapid expansion of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency holdings only adds fuel to concerns about how private wealth and foreign interests may influence presidential decisions.

Colbert’s lighthearted jab about presidential sneaker merchandising drew a laugh from Obama, but the former president quickly pivoted back to the serious stakes. The issue, he emphasized, is preventing conflicts that could compromise the president’s decision-making and the integrity of the office.

Beyond business conflicts, Obama sounded an urgent alarm about the politicization of justice and the military under Trump. “The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the Attorney General to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants to prosecute,” he said. “The Attorney General is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”

Reflecting on his own relationship with former Attorney General Eric Holder, Obama explained that while consultation on broad policy is normal, the president must never interfere with prosecutorial decisions. The former president warned, “We can survive a lot — bad policy, funky elections... but we can’t overcome the politicization of our justice system, the awesome power of the state.”

Obama also called out the dangerous erosion of military norms designed to keep the armed forces loyal to the Constitution rather than any individual leader.

When pressed on which presidential powers need rethinking, Obama didn’t hesitate: “Maybe don’t pardon people who have given you a bunch of campaign contributions or invested in your businesses.” His pointed criticism of Trump’s pardons for January 6 insurrectionists lays bare a pattern of rewarding political allies instead of upholding justice.

Obama’s remarks underscore the deep institutional damage wrought by Trump’s presidency — a toxic mix of self-dealing, weaponized justice, and norm-breaking that threatens the very foundations of American democracy. The call is clear: no president should treat the office as a side hustle or use its power to shield cronies and punish enemies.