US president Donald Trump is prolific on social media platform Truth Social, and has stood by everything he’s ever said – until now.
Over the weekend, Trump made more than 70 posts – including one depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
A 60-second clip first seems to be about vote counting in swing states, but then it cuts to the faces of the Obamas superimposed on apes dancing in the jungle to The Tokens’ 1961 song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
The video received intense social media backlash and widespread political condemnation.
California Governor and potential presidential candidate Gavin Newsom called the clip “disgusting behaviour by the president”. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was “racist filth”.
She added, “He should be ashamed of himself, if he were capable of shame. Taking it down is not enough”.
Trump posts depiction of Obamas as apes. Image: X
Several Republicans also condemned the clip, with one stating it was one of “the most racist things to come out of the White House”.
Many of Trump’s posts could be similarly described, but in this case, he apparently heeded the backlash – and in a rare move, had the post deleted.
In true Trump style, an apology hasn’t been issued – but the removal of the post is an incredible act for a man who’s generally never retracted anything he’s said or done, nor admitted to making a mistake.
‘I didn’t make a mistake’
In the aftermath, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said:
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Speaking with reporters after the incident, Trump said, “of course,” he condemned the video’s end, but insisted he had nothing to apologise for.
“No, I didn’t make a mistake,” he said on Air Force One, adding that he had “looked at the beginning” of the video and it “was fine”.
“I looked in the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in, and the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is.
“Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they’d look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t, and they posted.
“We took it down as soon as we found out about it.”
Trump and his administration have a history of social media posts and political policies that have appeared to be support racist ‘principles’.
During his election campaign, Trump insisted that Haitian migrants were “eating the dogs” in Ohio, and said former vice-president Kamala Harris (who has an Indian background and is a proud woman of colour) “became Black”.
In December 2025, Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” in the lead-up to an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, which resulted in the killings of two American citizens protesting against ICE agents.