Trump Says Obama 'Gave Out Classified Information' By Saying Aliens Are Real: 'Not Supposed To Be Doing That'

President Donald Trump said former head of State Barack Obama disclosed classified information when he said that aliens are real in a recent podcast.

"He's not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake giving out classified information," he told reporters aboard the Air Force One on Thursday.

Asked if aliens are real, Trump said: "I don't know if they're real or not, I can yell you he gave out classified information."

"I don't have an opinion on that. I never talk about it. A lot of people do, a lot of people believe it," he added.

The comments in question took place during an interview with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen. At one point, he asked a series of questions as part of a "lightning round," including the one about aliens being real.

"They're real but I haven't seen them," Obama said. "And they're not being kept in... what is it? Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."

The remark made headlines across the world, prompting the former president to release a statement clarifying it: "I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there."

"But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!" he concluded.

CNN recalled that Obama had already addressed the issue before. In an appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," he said: "What is true, and I'm actually being serious here, is that there are, there's footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don't know exactly what they are."

"We can't explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is."