Barack Obama has addressed Donald Trump’s long-running criticism of him, joking that he still occupies a place in the current US president’s mind.

The former US president made the comments during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast on June 24, when he was asked about Trump’s fixation on him and his family years after he left office.

In a witty response, Obama, 64, described Trump’s interest in him as rather an “obsession”.

“I obviously have a room in his head. A suite in his head.”

The former president, who served two terms from 2009 to 2017, said he never spent much time worrying about former leaders while he was in office.

“The last thing I had time to worry about was what somebody said, or what my predecessor did,” Obama said. “They’re gone. I’ve got work to do.”

Obama added that being president requires dealing with difficult and demanding issues every day, leaving little time to stress about personal rivalries.

Obama also called Trump’s repeated comments about him “strange” and suggested that the president is not focused on what the American people need.

“It shows me somebody who’s not focused on the American people and the job they’re supposed to do,” he said.

The Democrat also reflected on lessons he learned during his time in the White House, saying he quickly realised how important it was to ignore distractions and concentrate on the challenges directly in front of him.

Trump has frequently criticised Obama over the years. Earlier this month, he shared an edited image on Truth Social mocking the Obama Presidential Center.

Before entering the White House, Trump also promoted the false “birther” conspiracy theory, which wrongly claimed Obama was not born in the United States and therefore was not eligible to become president.