Donald Trump landed in the middle of a social media firestorm after posting an edited video depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes on Truth Social.
The now-deleted 62-second clip mainly focused on voter fraud conspiracy theories connected to the 2020 presidential election. However, a two-second footage towards the end saw Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed onto the bodies of monkeys against a backdrop of a jungle.
As netizens continued to tear into Trump for sharing a racist depiction of the former President and First Lady on social media, the 79-year-old addressed the controversy while speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One.
Acknowledging the disturbing video, Trump said, per The Daily Beast, “I just looked at the first part. I didn’t see the whole thing. I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of a picture that people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it.”
“I gave it to the people who, generally they look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn’t, and they posted, and we took it down,” he added.
Trump on the racist Obama post:
A staffer posted, I knew, it was all about, if you take a look at it and see the whole thing, it was a small section at the end…I liked the beginning, I saw it and passed it on, but probably nobody reviewed the end of it. Somebody slipped and… pic.twitter.com/XIGq4xkOGm
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 7, 2026
When asked whether he would apologize for posting the video, the President stated, “No. I didn’t make a mistake. I look at a lot of—thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine.”
He further added, “Certainly, it was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud, nobody knew that that was at the end. If they would have looked, they would have seen it, and probably they would have had the sense to take it down.”
The statement came after CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene reported that an unnamed senior official told her, “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”
Trump also said that he spoke to Republicans who wanted him to issue an apology and claimed they “understood” his side of the story. “I spoke to Tim Scott, he was great. Tim is a great guy, he understood that 100 percent,” the President said.
News: The White House has now taken down the post.
A senior WH official tells me: “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down”
It was up for 12 hours https://t.co/uvcqqmHKSk
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) February 6, 2026
MAGA Senator Tim Scott was among those who publicly criticized the video, calling it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump proclaimed himself as the “least racist president” when reporters asked whether his controversial post would impact the upcoming midterm elections.
“I am, by the way, the least racist president you’ve had in a long time, as far as I’m concerned,” the Republican leader claimed.
“I got the highest vote with male Black voters that they’ve seen in many, many decades,” he stated, adding, “Black voters have been great to me, I’ve been great to them.”
