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Obama made the comments after podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen said in the interview that a series of messages from White House officials,such as the video posted by Trumpand administration officials labeling people who died at the hands of ICE agentsas "domestic terrorists,"showed a level of cruelty that would have been disqualifying in earlier political times. He asked Obama how the country can come back from that discourse.

Barack Obama served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Take a look at his life in photos.

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See former President Barack Obama's journey to White House and his life after

Barack Obama served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Take a look at his life in photos.

"It is true that it gets attention. It's true that it's a distraction,"Obama said. "But as I'm traveling around the country, as you're traveling around the country, you meet people, they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness."

"There's this sort of clown show that's happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn't seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office," Obama added.

More:Trump shared Obama ape video. Here's the dark history behind the imagery.

The video was one of several posts on Trump's Truth Social account in the late hours of Feb. 5 and early hours of Feb. 6. A brief portion at the end of the video showed the faces of the Obamas on the bodies of two apes, in what appeared to be a jungle.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at one point defended the video as a depiction of Trump "as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King."

However,the post was deleted Feb. 6. Later that day on Air Force One, Trump said that he had only looked at the first part of the video, and hadn't seen the part with the Obamas.

"We took it down as soon as we found out about it," Trump said.

Asked whether he would apologize, Trump said, "No, I didn't make a mistake."

Contributing: Zac Anderson – USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Clown show': Barack Obama responds to Trump post of Obamas as apes

The wait has been frustrating. But making matters worse: While she's in limbo, the government employee responsible for distributing payments to people whose homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged has already received a six-figure payment.

"They cannot figure out for the life of them how to pay us," said Mathews of Las Vegas, New Mexico, "but they sure as hell figured out how to pay themselves."

From floods to fires: See FEMA respond to disasters across the US

Four years after the fire, the worst in New Mexico's history, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing questions about how it has administered a compensation fund set up by Congress to help the wildfire victims. Critics are demanding to know how the money has been distributed, who has received it and whether it's going to the people who need it most.

People who have filed claims complain that the review process has been complicated, frustrating and painstakingly slow and that cases are closed with no notice and no money awarded for their losses.

"Getting money fromFEMA, that's like getting blood from a rock," Mathews said. "They're not giving us anything."

On Thursday, Feb. 12, FEMA placed the director in charge of distributing the money and his deputy on administrative leave after revelations that each received six-figure payouts through the program while other victims are waiting for their claims to be processed.

Jay Mitchell, who works out of the FEMA claims office in Santa Fe, and his wife, Lisa, a real-estate broker, were awarded $524,000 through the compensation fund last year, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. The money was to be used to repair smoke and ash damage to the couple's home in Angel Fire, New Mexico, and to cover Lisa Mitchell's reported business losses, the documents say.

An independent news outlet calledSource New Mexicowas the first to report the payments.

Lisa Mitchell said in a brief phone interview with USA TODAY that she and her husband have been unfairly targeted. "We're being harassed for absolutely no wrongdoing," she said, declining to respond to a reporters' questions.

Jay Mitchell's deputy, Jennifer Carbajal, and a woman named Jennifer Sanchez, identified in local news reports as her ex-wife, also received $267,000 for smoke and ash cleaning and for flooding at a consulting business in Pendaries, New Mexico, the records show.

FEMA and Carbajal did not respond to requests for comment. But Paul Judson, a deputy assistant administrator in FEMA's headquarters in Washington, stressed in an email to staff of the Santa Fe office that the decision to place Mitchell and Carbajal on leave "does not reflect a finding of wrongdoing."

Judson did not say how long either would remain on leave or whether they will be paid while they are away. Juan Ayala, a senior FEMA official, will oversee the office's daily operations, he said.

Criticism of FEMA's handling of the payments comes as the agency is already under intense scrutiny in Washington. PresidentDonald Trump's administration has initiated a dramatic overhaul of the agency, which is responsible for coordinating the federal government's response to natural disasters. Trump has repeatedly characterized FEMA as ineffective and has pushed for states to have a larger role in disaster response.

Hundreds of jobs at the agency have been eliminated since Trump began his second term last year. A lawsuit filed in January by employees' unions and public interest groups says claims the Department of Homeland Security plans even deeper cuts, with more than 10,000 of the agency's roughly 20,000 employees expected to be terminated in the coming months.

Questions about the agency's handling of the compensation fund for the wildfire victims and the disclosure that Mitchell and Carbajal each received large payments have infuriated several of the state's elected leaders and families and business owners who are still waiting for their claims to be processed.

"It's a slap in the face that Mr. Mitchell and his wife got paid out," said Maria Lowe, a community activist who has been assisting people with their claims. "He should be ashamed of himself."

'Disproportionately devastating':California to investigate if Eaton Fire response involved discrimination

'Like poking a rock with a stick'

Mathews and her family did what they could to help friends and neighbors as the flames scorched and scarred just about everything in their path.

They housed firefighter crews on their ranch. Her restaurant, the Prairie Hill Café, provided meals to neighbors whose homes or businesses were destroyed or heavily damaged. Her father, Oren Mathews, who owns a gravel and well-digging company, dispatched water trucks that helped save other people's homes.

Mathews vividly remembers riding in one of her father's water trucks through thick smoke as black as the night to help family members and other ranchers save their homes.

At one point, a state trooper who had blocked the road with his vehicle stopped them and said they would not be allowed to continue. It was too dangerous, he said. The truck driver, one of her father's employees, told the officer to move his car and let them through or he'd run over it.

"You'll have to shoot us to stop us," he said.

Mathews' father suffered smoke inhalation while helping battle the flames and had to be hospitalized. He now has permanent lung damage. But people like him weren't willing to watch their homes and ranches go up in flames without a fight.

"We're stewards of our land," Sara Jo Mathews said. "They were not going to abandon their ranch that's been here for generations and their sheep and their horses and their cows to let them burn. They stayed and fought."

The destruction from the inferno, known as the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, was surreal.

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More than 341,417 acres of rugged mountain terrain burned across three counties in northern New Mexico between early April and late June in 2022. The conflagration started as two separate fires – one that resulted when the U.S. Forest Service lost control of a prescribed burn at the base of Hermits Peak in the Pecos Wilderness, the other when a holdover burn pile from the previous winter reignited near Gallinas Canyon.

Heavy winds fanned the flames and merged the two fires into one. As many as1,400 structures, including houses, were destroyed. Dozens of others were damaged.

People lost homes, cars and trucks, businesses, livestock, pets, even their land. Buildings that were left standing suffered heavy smoke and ash damage. Flooding in the following weeks and months worsened the damage and the misery.

To help with the recovery, Congress created a special fund in September 2022 and provided $5.4 billion to compensate those who suffered losses. The goal was to set up a simple, expedited process to submit a claim. Jay Mitchell, who had worked for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, was hired in April 2024 to oversee the FEMA claims office responsible for distributing the money.

But people who sought compensation say the process for filing claims was far from quick or easy.

FEMA demanded detailed paperwork, such as insurance forms or payroll records, that many mom-and-pop businesses didn't have. Some people filing claims complained that they spent hours gathering the necessary documents – only to have FEMA lose them and ask for them again.

As of Feb. 4, FEMA had paid 23,549 proof of loss claims totaling $3.36 billion, according to the office of Sen.Martin Heinrich, D-NM. How many claims are pending is unclear. FEMA did not respond to a request to provide those numbers. But community leaders say at least 73 people who suffered total losses to their homes or businesses are still waiting for their claims to be processed. The number of pending claims is likely significantly larger since people can file multiple claims.

Aninspector general's reportissued on Feb. 24, 2025, found that 13% of claims already filed were overdue a response. Specifically, FEMA had not acknowledged 1,508 of 11,695 active claims more than six months after they were filed, the report said.

Lowe said at least 20 of the 75 people she has helped with their claims are still waiting to hear how much money they'll receive, if any.

One of them is El Rialto Restaurant, a small family-owned eatery in Las Vegas, New Mexico, that has been in business for over half a century. The business was forced to shut down for extended periods during the fire and its aftermath, Lowe said. The owner filed a claim with FEMA in July 2024 to recover his losses, but nothing happened.

Lowe got involved, helped the owner find the necessary documents and filed them with FEMA. The "navigator," or FEMA employee assigned to the case, estimated the restaurant's losses at $180,000. Lowe thought they were higher, but was still gathering paperwork to make her case. The navigator advised them to sign the paperwork and said the loss estimate could be adjusted later, Lowe said.

Lowe was stunned when she discovered later that he had closed the case without telling them. The restaurant would get no money. When Lowe complained, the navigator suggested she should appeal and even said he thought she had a good case, she said.

"He just needed me to sign something so he could close out the case," a frustrated Lowe said. "He never had any intention of allowing us to submit further documentation."

Mathews said dealing with FEMA has been exasperating. "It's like poking a rock with a stick and saying, 'Move! Move! Move!'" she said.

Three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation – Heinrich, Sen.Ben Ray Lujanand Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez – say they have been working with claimants to help them get the money they are due.

In November, the three lawmakers, all Democrats, sent a letter to FEMA raising concerns about how the program had been administered, citing a lack of communication, trust and urgency by the agency. They demanded to know how many claims are outstanding, how many are tied up in appeals and how much of the funding has been spent on administrative costs.

FEMA has yet to respond, Heinrich's office said.

'A big problem'

The revelations that Mitchell and Carbajal had received six-figure payments added to the frustration. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the three Congress members have called for Mitchell's resignation.

"When the person in charge of claims moves himself to the front of the line and receives a half-million-dollar payout while thousands of others are still waiting to be made whole, that's a big problem," said the governor's spokesman, Michael Coleman.

If Mitchell refuses to resign, Coleman said, he should be fired immediately.

State Rep. Joseph Sanchez, a Democrat whose district in northcentral New Mexico was the epicenter of the fires, said residents of the impacted areas "deserve much better than how they have been treated by FEMA."

"Jay Mitchell must go," he said.

Families and businesses affected by the fire are hurting, but they'll survive, Mathews said. New Mexicans are strong, she said. Some live in communities that were founded centuries ago and are among the oldest in the nation.

"Long after the federal government forgets us, we'll be here, pulling each other up, helping one another," Mathews said. "We have survived because of our resilience and our close-knit communities. And we're not going to give up."

With or without the government's help.

Michael Collins writes about the intersection of politics and culture. A veteran reporter, he has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X: @mcollinsNEWS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:A FEMA director got wildfire payments while New Mexico victims wait

• The FDA upgraded a nationwide cake mix recall to Class I due to undeclared milk allergens.

• The recall affects large commercial Spice Cake and Swiss Chocolate Cake mixes.

• Businesses are urged to stop using the products due to serious allergy risks.

If you've got a baking project on the calendar, you might want to double-check what mix you're using first. Anationwide recallinvolving commercial cake mixes has just been upgraded to the FDA's most serious classification, meaning there's a real risk for people with certain food allergies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has elevated a recall involving Dallas-based B.C. Williams Bakery Service to aClass I recall, its highest warning level. That classification signals there's a reasonable chance that consuming the product could cause serious health consequences or even death.

The issue traces back to undeclared milk found in certain cake mixes, meaning milk wasn't listed on the label despite being present. While milk might seem harmless to most shoppers, it can trigger severe or life-threatening reactions in people with dairy allergies, especially children and those with diagnosed sensitivities.

The recall originally began in late December but was recently escalated after further review. The affected products were distributed nationwide, though exact retail or foodservice destinations haven't been fully clarified. Because these mixes are sold in large 50-pound bags, they're more commonly used by bakeries, restaurants, and large-scale food operations than by home bakers.

The products included in the recall areSpice Cake MixandSwiss Chocolate Cake Mix,both in 50-pound bags. The specific lot numbers can be foundhere.

Businesses or distributors in possession of the affected mixes are being urged not to use them and to dispose of the products or return them to their supplier. For consumers, the biggest concern is indirect exposure. If you or someone in your householdhas a milk allergyand you've recently bought baked goods from local bakeries or foodservice locations, it may be worth asking about ingredient sourcing until the recall is fully resolved.

No illnesses have been officially confirmed at this time, but a Class I designation shows the FDA isn't taking chances.

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The three others were charged in connection with threats made to FBI agents after documents containing the agents' personal information was stolen from a vehicle.

According to sworn statements filed in those cases, the FBI agents were investigating a shooting by an Immigration Customs Enforcement Officer on Jan. 14 when protests made the area unsafe and they had to flee on foot, leaving behind two of their vehicles. The vehicles were vandalized and broken into, and several things were stolen including guns, FBI identification cards and documents that included addresses, phone numbers and other personal information of some FBI employees.

That personal information was then posted on social media, according to the court documents, and that's when the officers began receiving threatening phone calls, text messages and emails.

Woman accused of biting off immigration officer's fingertip

Claire Louise Feng, 27, is accused of biting off the fingertip of a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations during a Jan. 24 protest that happened after immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti. Feng, who is from St. Paul, Minnesota, was indicted on the charge of assaulting a federal officer resulting in injury.

In an affidavit filed in the case, Homeland Security Investigations special agent Bronson Day said an immigration officer was attempting to arrest another protester when Feng tackled the officer. A Customs and Border Protection officer took Feng to the ground and was trying to secure her arms when Feng bit the officer's finger through a glove, Day wrote.

The day was very cold and the officer didn't immediately realize the severity of the injury, Day wrote, but when the officer removed his glove, he realized the tip of his ring finger had been removed, exposing the bone. He was able to get medical attention within an hour, Day wrote.

Feng's attorney, Kevin C. Riach, said she would fight the charge.

"All you have to do to assess the credibility of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents when they make allegations like this is to look at yesterday's dismissal that confirmed ICE agents have made false allegations against a defendant," Riach said. "We look forward to fighting this case and clearing Ms. Feng's name."

3 people indicted in threats to FBI agents

Brenna Marie Doyle, 18, of Spokane, Washington, was indicted Thursday on charges of threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer, threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer's family member and interstate transmission of a threat to injure a person. The indictment alleges she left voice messages on the FBI agent's phone threatening to kill them and their spouse and child.

Doyle hasn't entered a plea yet, and her attorney Robert D. Richman said they were waiting to receive evidence from the government so they can evaluate the case. He noted Doyle lives in Washington state and has never been to Minnesota.

"There is no allegation that she took any steps whatsoever to carry out any of these threats or come within a thousand miles of the agent," Richman said.

James Patrick Lyons, 45, of California was indicted on five counts of interstate transmission of threats to injure a person, and Jose Alberto Ramirez, 29, of Illinois was indicted on one count of the same charge. Both men are accused of sending threatening text messages to FBI employees.

Attorneys for Ramirez and Lyons did not immediately respond to messages requesting comment. Neither man has had the opportunity to enter a plea.

Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.

The suit is the latest in a series of legal battles challenging President Donald Trump's extraordinary efforts to put his mark on public spaces in the nation's capitol, includingshuttering the Kennedy Center.

At the end of last year, a group of preservationistsfiled a similar lawsuitseeking to prevent the administration from demolishing the East Wing of the White House in order to build a ballroom — a project slated to cost $400.

Trump, who is an avid golfer himself, also plans on renovating amilitary golf coursejust outside of Washington that has been used by past presidents going back decades.

The complaint filed against the Department of the Interior on Friday says that the Trump administration's reconstruction of East Potomac Park — which includes the East Potomac Golf Course — would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897. The roughly 130-year-old act established the park for the "recreation and the pleasure of the people."

The golf course, which has since been recognized on the National Register of Historic Places in part for its efforts to racially integrate in the 1940s. Municipal golf courses make up only 18% of courses in America.

"East Potomac Golf Links is a testament to what's possible with public land and why public spaces matter," said Washington resident and plaintiff Dave Roberts. "It deserves better than becoming a dumping ground for waste and yet another private playground for the privileged and powerful."

The lawsuit came after the Trump administration in December ended a lease agreement the nonprofit National Links Trust held for East Potomac and two other golf courses in Washington. The Interior Department said it did so because the nonprofit hadn't implemented required capital improvements and failed to meet the terms of the lease.

The Interior Department press office said in an email Friday that it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

However, it said it would "ensure these courses are safe, beautiful, open, affordable, enjoyable and accessible for people visiting the greatest capital city in the world which is in line with President Trump's agenda."

The White House also didn't respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday evening.

Construction on the East Potomac course has already begun, according to the lawsuit. In October, the National Parks Service began dumping debris from the demolition of the East Wing of the White House onto the golf course, the complaint said, raising concerns that the materials could contain contaminants that could pollute the air.

As a result, the plaintiffs argued, the administration of also violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to consider the harmful environmental impacts of the project.

The National Links Trust said in December they were "devastated" by the decision to terminate the lease and defended their management of the courses.

They said $8.5 million had gone toward capital improvements at the courses and that rounds played and revenue had more than doubled in their tenure managing the courses. They also added that the termination of the lease jeopardized hundreds of local jobs.

The nonprofit has agreed to keep managing the courses for the time being, but long-term renovations will stop.

The first 18 holes of the East Potomac Park Golf Course were built from 1918 to 1923.

___ Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.

Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said she requested an investigation after learning about a 2019 email included in recently released Epstein-related documents. The email, sent to a conservative radio host, claimed that two girls were buried on public land leased near the ranch. The act was allegedly done at the direction of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking.

"There was a very disturbing allegation that came out that could potentially be linked to state land," Garcia Richard said. "Because I am the manager of that land. I'm the elected steward of that land and what occurs there and what the land is used for is of utmost interest and importance to us at the State Land Office."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT |Lutnick confirms 2012 boat visit with Epstein amid Senate questioning

She said, to her knowledge, neither the state land nor Zorro Ranch has ever been searched as part of a criminal investigation.

From reviewing historical documents, Garcia Richard said it appears the leased state land may have been used as a buffer around the ranch.

"It seems like the state land was used almost as a buffer, a shield to hide what activity was occurring on the ranch ... to insulate visibility to what was occurring there," she said.

Garcia Richard said she is concerned the land could be a potential crime scene.

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"If state land was used for criminal activity, that is definitely something New Mexicans need to know," she said. "Those are answers that victims and survivors need to have."

Garcia Richard said she has the authority to cancel leases on state land and confirmed that any party associated with Epstein was removed from the property. The lease was canceled in 2019 and has not been issued to anyone else.

However, she said the State Land Office does not have law enforcement authority.

RELATED STORY |FBI concluded Jeffrey Epstein wasn't running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men, files show

"We are looking to partner with other agencies that do have that capacity to investigate the land," Garcia Richard said.

Garcia Richard said technology exists in New Mexico to conduct searches for possible unmarked graves, including ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.

The land in question is "fairly large," she said, but investigators would likely focus first on a specific area referenced as the hills behind Zorro Ranch, which she said is state land.

Garcia Richard said she has asked the New Mexico Department of Justice and federal authorities to get involved and plans to pursue other state partnerships if necessary.

Garcia Richard also said she reached out to the attorney general's office in 2019 seeking an investigation, but nothing was done at the time.

Two-time defending winner William Byron and Denny Hamlin arrive in Daytona Beach, Fla., on the verge of entering rarified air.

If Byron is the first to the checkers in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in Sunday's 200-lapper, he would become just the fifth driver to click off three 500 wins.

But in the previous 67 runnings, no winner has ever reeled off three straight checkered flags. Not seven-time winner Richard Petty nor four-time victor Cale Yarborough, the only wheelmen ever to elevate themselves past three career victories.

Byron, 28, is one of five drivers to ever record consecutive 500 triumphs, after Hamlin (2019, 2020), Sterling Marlin (1994, 1995), Yarborough (1983, 1984) and Petty (1973, 1974).

Byron, who enters his ninth Cup Series season with 16 total victories, would give owner Rick Hendrick his 11th in the Great American Race and allow Byron to match Hamlin, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Allison and Jeff Gordon with exactly three wins of the sport's crown jewel.

"I get reminders of the previous races, whether I see just the videos or whatnot," Byron said Wednesday. "Yeah, it's great career-defining moments that we've had. It's awesome. It's special. But I don't really think ahead too much. I just think about what it's going to take in these next couple days leading up to it."

However, Byron ran into trouble Thursday, wrecking his No. 24 in Duel No. 1, and will race with a backup car Sunday.

Meanwhile, Hamlin will try to find some sense of normalcy: in his life, with his health and on the track.

During a difficult, tragic November and December, Hamlin lost his chance at his first Cup championship in the final laps at Phoenix to Kyle Larson as Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota, which led 208 laps, was driving away on an emotional win dedicated to his ailing father.

Then, as 2025 was ending, Hamlin's father died following a house fire at the parents' home. The son is also not fully healthy, as Hamlin chose not to have surgery for a torn labrum that had been surgically repaired before but was re-injured in a fall while walking through the house's burned wreckage.

"It's just going to take a little while to kind of get back in the swing of things," said Hamlin, 45. "You know, it certainly has not been an easy offseason by any means, and I'm sure I'm probably in a different headspace than most of the competitors that have been rip-roaring, ready to go racing the last month or so.

"I'm probably in a different spot than that. I would certainly appreciate a few more months, but I don't have that. But we'll just kind of see how it goes."

So there will be another season for Hamlin to grapple with, a new Chase point system to figure out and another Daytona 500 this Sunday.

Polesitter Kyle Busch will lead the pack to green, while Joey Logano and Chase Elliott will be ones to watch after their Duel qualifying victories Thursday.

Hamlin could certainly win Sunday -- his Daytona 500 record shows it. However, that next phone call he will want to make, to the person who started it all, will be his hardest to reconcile because it can't be made.

--Field Level Media