After years of questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump relented Friday, telling reporters at a press conference in Washington, D.C., that the president “was born in the United States. Period.”
During a campaign event at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., Friday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that President Barack Obama was born in the United States. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Trump has openly questioned the president’s birthplace for several years.
In 2011, Obama released his birth certificate, showing that he was born in Hawaii.
At his press conference, Trump claimed, "Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it."
Obama told reporters at the White House Friday that he's "shocked" the issue came up again during the 2016 election.
"I was pretty confident about where I was born," Obama said. "I think most people were, as well. And my hope would be that the presidential election reflects more serious issues than that."
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