U.S. President Donald Trump has condemned but refused to apologise for a racist video briefly posted to his Truth Social account, insisting he had “not made a mistake” and blaming a staff member for uploading the content.
The video showed former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes in what appeared to be an AI-generated segment.
The clip, which included music associated with The Lion King, appeared at the end of a longer video amplifying Trump’s false claims that his defeat in the 2020 election was the result of fraud.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a staff member had “erroneously made the post” and that it was later removed. The deletion came hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt dismissed the backlash as “fake outrage”.
Trump later condemned the imagery but again refused to apologise, saying the offensive segment was not reviewed before the post went live and was taken down once identified. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said the staff member responsible had not noticed the material.
The post drew immediate criticism from across the political spectrum. Republican Senator Tim Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican, wrote on X: “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
Republican Representative Mike Lawler also said Trump should delete the post and apologise.
Before the video was taken down, Leavitt said it was “from an internet meme depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King”.
A spokesperson for the Obamas declined to comment.
Former Obama aide Ben Rhodes criticised the post, while civil rights groups also condemned the video. NAACP president Derrick Johnson described it as “blatantly racist, disgusting and utterly despicable”.
Trump has previously shared posts criticised as racist, including false claims about Obama’s birthplace and comments about Somalis and developing nations.
He was also criticised last year for sharing an edited image of Hakeem Jeffries depicting him with a handlebar moustache and a sombrero.
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