Donald Trump unleashed a late-night social media tirade against his political enemies, attacking predecessors including Barack Obama with false accusations and amplifying calls for his Democratic rivals to be prosecuted.

Just hours before a high-stakes trip to China for talks with Xi Jinping, the US president posted more than 50 times in a three-hour spree from Monday evening into the early hours of Tuesday. Posts included doctored images of himself on the $100 bill and demands that political opponents be arrested.

It comes as millions of Americans face mounting economic pressure tied to the US and Israel’s war with Iran, with living costs rising across much of the country. Trump appeared to acknowledge this pressure earlier on Monday, when he signaled his support for a plan to curb a sharp rise in fuel costs.

After campaigning for years against the US engaging in “endless wars”, Trump has repeatedly drawn out the timeline of the war on Iran, which began with US and Israeli attacks in late February. Earlier this week he described a ceasefire deal with Tehran as “on life support”.

Starting late on Monday evening Trump promoted posts on his Truth Social platform that falsely accused Obama of plotting a coup against Trump, as well as claims calling Obama a “traitor” and “the most demonic force in American politics”. Trump also shared images of Obama, former president Joe Biden and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool. In the altered images, the pool – which Trump has proposed renovating to an “American flag blue” color – appeared filled with sewage beneath the caption: “Dumacrats love sewage”.

The president also attacked the New York Times after the newspaper reported that a $6.9m contract to restore the reflecting pool was hastily handed out to a company that renovated a swimming pool at his Virginia golf course. “This is not just a paint job … it is a deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction,” he said.

Other targets of Trump’s late-night screed included Illinois’s governor, JB Pritzker; the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries; and Hillary Clinton, against whom he contested the 2016 presidential election. He also repeated false claims about the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Biden but continues to insist was stolen from him.

Trump also repeated his disapproval towards several conservative justices whom he previously appointed, including Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, who voted against his tariff agenda earlier this year.

Gorsuch is a “really smart and good man, but he voted against me, and our Country, on Tariffs, a devastating move”, Trump wrote. “How do I reconcile this? So bad, and hurtful to our Country. I have, likewise, always liked and respected Amy Coney Barrett, but the same thing with her. They were appointed by me, and yet have hurt our Country so badly!”