For Trump, the sweep of conspiracy is vast. President Obama is at the heart and was his first target. Trump questioned Obama's American birth and asked whose hidden hands manipulated his rise to the presidency? He warned of a "Manchurian Candidate" elected to the presidency but actually subject to the will of global insiders and power brokers. During the 2016 election, Trump saw "a concerted effort" by the writers of Saturday Night Live, the Daily Show, CNN and the New York Times to defeat his campaign. He claimed that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the Democrats and the media had concocted a "sinister deal" to keep him from the presidency.