Trump rages at Obama in midnight Twitter tirade before liking post about Rihanna’s work-life balance

US president baselessly suggests predecessor involved in ‘spying’ on campaign

Donald Trump has raged against Barack Obama in a late-night Twitter tirade just minutes before liking a tweet about pop star Rihanna’s improving work-life balance.

Quoting Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host who supports the US president, Mr Trump wrote: “Someone should call Obama up. The Obama Administration spied on a rival presidential campaign using Federal Agencies. I mean, that seems like a headline to me?”

Adding his own comment to the 12.28am tweet, Mr Trump said: “It will all start coming out, and the Witch Hunt will end. Presidential Harassment!”

There is no evidence Mr Obama authorised any federal agencies to conduct surveillance against Mr Trump or his presidential campaign.

In fact, the FBI launched an investigation in the summer of 2016 after it was warned a former Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, had reportedly told an Australian diplomat Russia was in possession of emails related to Hillary Clinton.

Just 12 minutes after Mr Trump’s unfounded claim about his predecessor, he liked a tweet by US writer and podcaster, Heben Nigatu, in which she shares a section of an interview with Rihanna where the singer discusses creating a healthy work-life balance.

“Every new Rihanna interview makes me grow stronger. We stan a work/life balance queen!!!” Ms Nigatu wrote.

It is the president’s first like of a tweet in almost two years.

Donald Trump likes Tweet about Rihanna's improving work-life balance (Twitter)

“It’s only the last couple years that I started to realize that you need to make time for yourself, because your mental health depends on it,” Rihanna says, with the apparent agreement of Mr Trump.

“If you’re not happy, you’re not going to be happy even doing things that you love doing. It’d feel like a chore. I never want work to feel like a chore. My career is my purpose, and it should never feel like anything other than a happy place.

“I’ve made little things a big deal, like going for a walk or going to the grocery store. I got into a new relationship, and it matters to me. It was like, ‘I need to make time for this’.

“Just like I nurture my businesses, I need to nurture this as well. I’ll shut things down for two days, three days at a time. On my calendar we now have the infamous ‘P’, which means personal days. This is a new thing.”

Rihanna’s “personal days” echoes Mr Trump’s “Executive Time”; a daily three-hour period from 8am to 11am in which the president gets time alone to watch TV, make phone calls and use Twitter, according to Axios.

Mr Trump’s apparent support for more personal time comes amid repeated accusations he has not been working hard enough since becoming president.

His relatively light public schedule stands in contrast to his boasts about his work ethic during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he cast his opponent Ms Clinton as someone who would struggle to keep up with the demands of the job.