Former President Barack Obama drew criticism from supporters of Donald Trump after video footage showing him arriving in Canada and greeting Prime Minister Mark Carney went viral online.
In a post on X, Carney wrote, “Welcome back to Canada, President @BarackObama,” alongside a video showing Obama greeting the Canadian leader in Toronto.
Carney later thanked Obama for joining discussions focused on “how we can build a better and more just future,” comments that prompted backlash from some conservatives online.
Conservative commentator Laura Loomer questioned why Obama was meeting with foreign leaders while Trump remains in office, while influencer Nick Sortor accused the former president of potentially violating the Logan Act.
Political commentator David J. Freeman, who posts under the name “Gunther Eagleman,” also criticized Obama’s visit.
Reports indicated Obama traveled to Canada for a speaking engagement, though some online commentators speculated the visit involved broader political discussions related to U.S.-Canada relations and trade tensions.
The Logan Act, enacted in 1799, prohibits private American citizens from conducting unauthorized negotiations with foreign governments involved in disputes with the United States. The law was inspired by George Logan, who traveled to France to meet with French officials during a diplomatic dispute.
Welcome back to Canada, President @BarackObama.
Thank you for joining us in Toronto for important conversations on how we can build a better and more just future — and empower more people to build with us. pic.twitter.com/S2lrJLL5Td
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) May 9, 2026
Only two people in U.S. history have ever been charged under the Logan Act, and neither case resulted in a successful prosecution.
In 1803, Francis Flournoy was indicted after advocating for western territories to separate from the Union and align with France. In 1852, Jacob Levy was indicted for urging Mexico’s president to reject a proposed treaty with the United States.
To violate the law, per Newsweek, all three conditions must be met:
- The person must be acting without U.S. government authorization.
- They must be communicating with a foreign government.
- They must be attempting to influence that government on an active dispute with the United States.
Last week, Obama hypocritically criticized the Trump administration over what he described as growing political influence within the United States Department of Justice, prompting an aggressive response from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who defended both the administration’s prosecutions and President Donald Trump’s authority over the executive branch.
Obama raised the issue during an interview with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that aired Monday night.
“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”
Obama suggested the principle of DOJ independence may ultimately need to be codified into law by Congress, arguing that the justice system risks becoming politicized if presidents are perceived as directly targeting political opponents through federal prosecutions.
The comments immediately triggered pushback from the Trump administration. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, arguing that his administration played a central role in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” Jackson said in a statement, referencing declassified documents related to the FBI’s Russia probe.
But the administration’s most extensive response came on Wednesday from Blanche during an interview with CBS News in Phoenix.
Blanche forcefully rejected accusations that the DOJ is engaged in political retaliation and defended the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the FBI raid of the office of longtime Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas on Wednesday is part of an “ongoing” criminal probe.
“This was a law enforcement operation during the course of a criminal investigation,” Blanche told CBS News’… pic.twitter.com/N6CBMZRp41
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 7, 2026
“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America,’” Blanche said while holding a pocket copy of the Constitution during the interview. “It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side.”
Blanche emphasized that the attorney general serves within the executive branch and argued that presidents are fully entitled to direct priorities involving law enforcement, immigration, drugs, and national security.
“To the extent that President Trump calls me and says that he thinks we have a problem in this country, whether it’s the scourge of drugs, illegal immigration, every American wants him to do that,” Blanche said. “And he should.”
