Trump is ‘terrified’ history will remember Obama as a better president: Washington Post columnist

President Donald Trump's fixation on size has him worried that his record will stack up poorly with that of former President Barack Obama, a Washington Post columnist wrote on Monday.

"Is it my imagination, or is President Trump’s chronic and debilitating case of Obama envy getting worse? One of the things that genuinely seems to matter to Trump is comparing himself — favorably, of course — with his predecessor, no matter how delusional the rationale. Trump gave an illustration at the end of the Group of Seven summit when he insisted to reporters that former president Barack Obama had been 'outsmarted' by Russian President Vladimir Putin," Eugene Robinson wrote.

"It fit a pattern that goes back years — and may have more to do with Trump’s behavior in office than we realize," he added.

Robinson offered multiple examples of Obama succeeding on Trump's goals.

"Trump blasts the Obama administration’s record of creating jobs and claims to be doing much better. Yet, under Obama, the unemployment rate fell from a high of 10 percent to just 4.7 percent. Under Trump, it has dropped further to 3.7 percent," he noted. "Which president had the bigger impact?"

"Trump blames Obama for being soft on illegal immigration, yet he deports fewer undocumented migrants than Obama did. And when Obama left office, undocumented border crossings were at a multiyear low. The huge increase, driven in part by asylum seekers from Central America, has taken place under Trump," he continued.

Robinson suggested racism could be part of Trump's jealousy.

"Obviously, I can’t know for sure what the root cause of Trump’s Obama obsession might be. Everyone should remember, though, that he was an active and vocal proponent of the racist 'birther' conspiracy theory, at one point claiming, without evidence, that he had sent investigators to Hawaii to discover the 'truth' about Obama’s birth certificate," he reminded.

"Trump seems terrified that history will look more kindly on Obama’s presidency than on his own. If that’s the case — on this one point — he couldn’t be more right," Robinson concluded.