--- title: Barack Obama: Donald Trump Will Not Be President description: "I have a lot of faith in the American people." canonical: https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T23:47:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:57.800Z article:section: Politics og:title: Barack Obama: Donald Trump Will Not Be President og:description: "I have a lot of faith in the American people." og:url: https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdc5300bc3762a63/69887de00a4a221a809c8668/barack-obama-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5061 og:image:height: 2847 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama: Donald Trump Will Not Be President twitter:description: "I have a lot of faith in the American people." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdc5300bc3762a63/69887de00a4a221a809c8668/barack-obama-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: 'Mr. Trump Will Not Be President' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7d4ba61e-0307-4dc7-8874-76db714297f4&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/veyEEaTj.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2016-02-16_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 16, 2016 11:47 PM UTC  Barack Obama speaks in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Feb. 16, 2016. Barack Obama speaks in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Feb. 16, 2016. Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 16, 2016 11:47 PM UTC President Obama is confident that his successor will not be businessman and Republican front runner Donald Trump. “I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be President,” President Obama said at a news conference in California on Monday, following a two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. “I have a lot of faith in the American people.” Obama spoke bluntly, saying that the job of President of the United States is “hard” and nothing like “hosting a talk show or a reality show,” in an apparent jab at the business mogul who starred in the reality-TV show _The Apprentice._ The President also brushed off Trump’s success — he came in second in the Iowa caucuses and dominated the New Hampshire primary — as a product of the frenzied primary season. “As you get closer, reality has a way of intruding,” Obama said, before reminding reporters that the person who succeeds him will have access to the nuclear codes and the power to send young people into battle. “The American people are pretty sensible,” Obama added. “I think they’ll make a sensible choice in the end.” This is not the first time Obama has sounded bearish on a Trump presidency. In January, the President doubted the GOP front runner’s chances in a _Today Show_ appearance, saying, “Talk to me if he wins.” “I’m pretty confident that the overwhelming majority of Americans are looking for the kind of politics that does feed our hopes and not our fears,” Obama said at the time. ## Transcript The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now. When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court the President of the United States is to nominate someone. The Senate is to consider that nomination. And either they disapprove of that nominee or that nominee is elevated to the Supreme Court. Historically, this has not been viewed as a question. We're gonna find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind. Somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law. There's not gonna be any particular position on a particular issue that determines whether or not I nominate them, but I'm going to present somebody who, indisputably, is qualified for the seat. And any fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/"},"headline":"President Obama: 'Mr. Trump Will Not Be President'","datePublished":"2016-02-16T23:47:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:57.800Z","description":"\"I have a lot of faith in the American people.\"","url":"https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/","keywords":["2016 Election","Barack Obama","White House","Obama","2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdc5300bc3762a63/69887de00a4a221a809c8668/barack-obama-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdc5300bc3762a63/69887de00a4a221a809c8668/barack-obama-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"Barack Obama speaks in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Feb. 16, 2016.","creditText":"Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/","name":"President Obama: 'Mr. Trump Will Not Be President'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/veyEEaTj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-16T23:49:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/veyEEaTj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4226736/president-obama-mr-trump-will-not-be-president/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```