In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo. | AP Photo Trump calls Chelsea Manning an 'ungrateful traitor'

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Chelsea Manning, the Army private who gave military documents to WikiLeaks and whose sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama, is an “ungrateful traitor” for penning an op-ed accusing Obama of too often compromising with his political opponents.

“Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.


The post was seemingly a reference to an op-ed by Manning published in The Guardian headlined “Compromise does not work with our political opponents. When will we learn?” In it, she writes that Obama “left behind hints of a progressive legacy” but that many of his accomplishments have already proved unable to withstand the week-old presidency of Trump, who has sought to walk back much of his predecessor’s work.

“The one simple lesson to draw from President Obama’s legacy: do not start off with a compromise,” Manning wrote. “They won’t meet you in the middle. Instead, what we need is an unapologetic progressive leader.”

Manning was found guilty by a military court-martial in 2013 on multiple charges related to her leaking of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but that sentence was commuted by Obama in his final week in office to seven years. Manning is set to be released in May.