President Barack Obama says he is "confident" he could have beaten Donald Trump if he was on the ballot this year, prompting the president-elect to respond with an defensive denial amid a flurry of tweets sent out late Monday night.

"President Obama said that he thinks he would have won against me," Trump wrote . "He should say that but I say NO WAY! - jobs leaving, ISIS, OCare, etc."

Trump was responding to Obama's interview with former aide David Axelrod, in an episode of Axelrod's podcast The Axe Files released Monday.

In a sit-down at the White House before departing last week for his annual Christmas getaway to Hawaii, Obama told Axelrod that he did not believe Trump's election was a repudiation of the vision of a more inclusive America Obama had tried to convey in his campaigns and as president.

"In the wake of the election and Trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow, it really was a fantasy," Obama said. "What I would argue is, is that the culture actually did shift, that the majority does buy into the notion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse and open and full of energy and dynamism."

"The problem is, it doesn't always manifest itself in politics, right? You know, I am confident in this vision because I'm confident that if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could've mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it."

Axelrod, who was the chief strategist for both of Obama's presidential campaigns, pointed out that Trump had won 200 counties in 2016 that Obama had managed to capture in his victories, "many of them are in these rural or small town communities."

The difference for Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee, Obama said, was a "double standard with her" and a "longstanding difficulty in her relationship with the press that meant her flaws were wildly amplified."

Obama described Clinton's failure – and the Democratic Party's – as one of communication rather than policy.

"The economy has been improving. There is a sense, obviously, that some communities have been left behind from the recovery and people feeling anxious about that," he said.

"Understandably, I think she looked and said, 'Well, given my opponent and the things he's saying and what he's doing, we should focus on that,'" he continued. "In retrospect, we can all be Monday morning quarterbacks. Here's what I would say prospectively, is that the Democratic agenda is better for all working people."

"See, I think the issue was less that Democrats have somehow abandoned the white working class, I think that's nonsense," Obama went on. "Look, the Affordable Care Act benefits a huge number of Trump voters. There are a lot of folks in places like West Virginia or Kentucky who didn't vote for Hillary, didn't vote for me, but are being helped by this. The problem is, is that we're not there on the ground communicating not only the dry policy aspects of this, but that we care about these communities, that we're bleeding for these communities."

In his tweeted reply, Trump said the economy and the world had been "gloomy" before his election. "There was no hope," he said. "Now the market is up nearly 10% and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars!"

The world was gloomy before I won - there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10% and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2016

While the president-elect did not cite a source in his tweet, a Deloitte University Press report in September projected that holiday sales this year will exceed $1 trillion; final sales data has not yet been released. CBSN reported that the total post-election gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average is 8.7 percent, the S&P 500 has gained 5.8 percent and Nasdaq 5.2 percent.

Although the outcome of a head-to-head matchup between the 44th president and his successor is purely hypothetical, Obama is leaving office with higher marks than Trump will have coming in.

Obama's approval rating has been steadily climbing since the spring, and now averages 54 percent approve to 42 percent disapprove, according to the RealClearPolitics average .

Trump's favorability, meanwhile, has been rising since Election Day but still remains underwater, with an average of 44 percent saying they have a favorable opinion of the incoming president compared to 49 percent who hold an unfavorable view – an improvement of more than 15 points since the eve of the election.