Obama releases his Hawaii birth certificate

President Obama said today he released new copies of his Hawaii birth certificate because the flap over his birthplace threatens to overshadow the "enormous challenges" facing the nation.

"We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers," Obama said.

View the birth certificate here.

Obama did not specifically mention Donald Trump, but the prospective Republican presidential candidate and other critics have questioned whether he was born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961, and is therefore eligible for the presidency -- prompting today's extraordinary release.

In brief remarks at the White House, Obama said he knows he won't satisfy all the birthplace critics, but he pointedly added "I'm speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press."

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness," Obama said. "We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do. We've got big problems to solve."

Trump told reporters in New Hampshire he is "very proud" to have forced release of the birth certificate, which "hopefully" will end the issue.

"We have to look at it," Trump said. "We have to see if it is real."

Obama -- who sent his personal lawyer to Hawaii this week to pick up the records -- also released letters from this month in which he and the lawyer requested copies of his birth certificate.

"The president believed it was becoming a major distraction from the issues we are having in this country," said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, who, like his boss, called the whole thing a "fake controversy" and "a sideshow."

There is some evidence the birthplace criticism has had an effect. In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll this week, only 38% of Americans say Obama definitely was born in the USA, and 18% say he probably was. Fifteen percent say he probably was born in another country, and 9% say he definitely was born elsewhere.

The White House is planning to post Obama's birth records on the Internet -- the same step the Obama campaign took in 2008, the first time this flap surfaced, Pfeiffer pointed out.

"This issue was resolved in 2008," Pfeiffer said.

Pfeiffer said Obama decided to repeat the process because the birth certificate issue has re-surfaced in the "last few weeks." Pfeiffer, like Obama, did not cite Trump by name, but the New York businessman and television host has been the most prominent voice questioning the location of Obama's birth.

On Friday, Obama and his personal lawyer, Judith Corley, faxed letters to the Hawaii Department of Health, requesting two copies "of my original certificate of live birth" -- namely, the so-called "long form" that includes two pages. The Obama campaign had only posted the "short form" on the Internet back in 2008.

Trump and other critics said the long form contained information Obama wanted to hide; in fact, both pages of the long form contains essentially the same information; the difference is that one page includes signatures by Obama's mother and an attending physician.

Obama had to make a formal request for certified copies of his birth certificate because, normally, the Hawaii health department only generates computer copies. Loretta J. Fuddy, the Hawaii health director, wrote Obama that her department would make an exception, given "your status as President of the United States."

Fuddy also wrote Obama that she hopes the release "will end the numerous inquiries" received by her office. "Such inquiries have been disruptive to staff operations and have strained state resources," she wrote.

A White House attorney traveled to Honolulu this week to pick up the copies, which arrived at the White House late Tuesday.