Former President Barack Obama hinted that Donald Trump's 'mommy issues' are part of what makes him incapable of fixing the nation's problems.

Obama told the audience at a talk at the Obama Foundation summit, held at the Mariott Marquis hotel in Chicago, on Monday that the world 'badly needs remaking.'

And he insisted fixing issues around climate change, education, agriculture and so on are not nearly as complicated as they are made out to be.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama said 'the reason we don't do it is because we are still confused, blind, shrouded with hate, anger, racism, mommy issues.'

Trump has previously credited his mother Mary MacLeod Trump, who died in 2000, for 'so much of what I've done and so much of what I've become.'

Former President Barack Obama speaks to attendees at the second Obama Foundation summit at the Mariott Marquis hotel in Chicago on Monday

Mommy dearest: Mary MacLeod was an immigrant from a remote Scottish island who spoke English as her second language. Her son's predecessor as president accused him of having 'mommy issues' - although he pointedly did not use his name

But she was reported to have been greatly embarrassed by her son's antics throughout the 1990s, when his personal life and failing business often became tabloid fodder.

'What sort of son have I created?' she once famously asked Trump's first wife Ivana, whose highly-publicized divorce came following the revelation that Trump had cheated on her with Marla Maples.

Since leaving office, Obama has pointedly avoided direct criticism of his successor, making a calculated effort not to utter Trump's name.

But the gloves came off as he campaigned ahead of the midterm elections and assailed Republicans for failing to keep Trump in check.

'What happened to the Republican Party?' asked Obama in September in a speech where he accused Trump of 'capitalizing' on 'fear and anger.'

Calling out the president by name, Obama said Trump was a 'symptom, not the cause' of broader ailments in the nation's politics.

And in another dig at Trump on Monday, Obama suggested the US was a better place before he was sworn into office.

In a conversation with author Dave Eggers, Obama also repeated his belief that if you could choose a time and place to be born, you would choose the US.

But he amended that thought and said: 'You'd choose now – or maybe two years ago.'

Obama made the remarks during a conversation with author Dave Eggers at the summit

The former president (left) told the audience that the world 'badly needs remaking'

At the summit on Monday night, Obama also maintained that what prevents change that would make the world a better place is the people involved.

'What prevents us from implementing most of the things that we would probably collectively agree would make the world better is not the absence of technological solutions, it's because there are humans involved and that the dynamics of the society,' he said.

'Do we care about these kids? Because maybe we don't…They look a little different to us.'

Obama also urged community organizers and social innovators to be patient in their pursuits of wide-scale change.

'You can remake the world right now, because it badly needs remaking,' he said.

He noted that patience is needed because societies are 'complex, organic things that you don't turn (like) switches. They evolve. They shift. They change.'

But he said he has faith in the next generation because they are 'ahead of the curve.'

He added: 'The thing that inspires me whenever I come to these gatherings… is that this generation behind us is smarter, more sophisticated, more tolerant, more welcoming, more innovative, more creative, certainly than I was.

'I'll go ahead and speak for my whole generation, I think. Y'all are ahead of the curve. And you're no less idealistic, in some ways, you're more idealistic.

'And you feel a greater sense of urgency about wrongs that need to be righted.'

Obama also talked extensively about his background as a community organizer, his experiences as a politician and writing his book.

He joked writing the book is a 'brutal' process that is causing strain in his marriage now that Michelle Obama has launched her book tour.

'I'm just sitting there, I type two words… delete them. You know what? Michelle's out there, go buy her book right now.

'This is causing some strain in our marriage. The fact that she is finished and I am not.'

The Obama summit is a two-day conference that brings together civic innovators and community activists from around the world to network, exchange ideas.