The video didn’t stay up long. But it stayed up long enough.
In early February, a video posted on U.S. Republican President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account depicted former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
By noon the next day, it had been removed.
The White House later said a staff member “erroneously made the post.” Trump said he had not seen the entire video before it was shared and maintained that he “didn’t make a mistake.”
The ambiguous response raises the question of whether the video was posted by the president himself or by a staff member acting on his behalf.
What was posted
The one-minute video promoted false claims about voting machines in the 2020 election — claims that have been repeatedly debunked.
In its final seconds, the video depicted former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Archived versions show the video was uploaded at 11:44 p.m. Eastern Time.
The post remained online for about 12 hours before being removed following widespread outrage from both Democrats and Republicans.
The former president’s spokeswoman said the Democrat had no response.
In a rare rebuke of Trump, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate’s only Black Republican, expressed on X that he was in disbelief following the release of the video.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” said Scott.
What the White House claimed
While the video was still live, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as an “internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” and urged critics to “stop the fake outrage.”
After the post was removed, Trump addressed the incident during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One.
During the informal press conference, the U.S. president explained that he had watched only the beginning of the video before passing it to staff, who he said “generally” review content before it is posted. He added that the video was taken down “as soon as we found out about it.”
“No, I haven’t,” responded Trump when asked if the staff member responsible had been reprimanded.
The Republican president also declined to apologize to the Obamas.
During his first presidency, Trump referred to a swath of developing nations with majority Black populations as “shithole countries.”
While Trump initially denied using the slur, he later admitted in December 2025 that he did say it.
Trump also promoted a false conspiracy theory that Obama, the president from 2009 to 2017, was not born in the United States.
What we know about who can post
Historically, presidential social media posts are treated as official communications, not personal commentary. They can announce policy, influence markets, and shape diplomatic relationships.
Access to Trump’s Truth Social account is not public.
And Vanity Fair reports that only a small circle of aides has direct access to the account, including deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and close aide Natalie Harp.
A Trump adviser told the magazine the president had not seen the video before it was posted and ordered it removed once he became aware of it.
While the administration’s 2025 Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff outlines a structured communications operation, including communications director Steven Cheung, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and senior communications aide Taylor Budowich, it does not describe how social media posts are reviewed or approved.
What isn’t publicly documented
The White House has not released documentation outlining how presidential social media posts are reviewed before publication.
The Trump administration has not publicly identified the staff member it says “erroneously made the post,” nor explained how the video cleared internal review.
“No one believes this cover-up from the White House, especially since they originally defended the post,” former vice president Kamala Harris wrote on X. “We are all clear-eyed about who Donald Trump is and what he believes.”
CNN reported that Trump often posts to Truth Social late at night and early in the morning. The outlet cited anonymous sources who said a small group of aides – including Natalie Harp and Dan Scavino – also have access to his accounts.
According to CNN, Harp sometimes posts messages dictated by Trump, while Scavino oversaw the president’s social media during his first term.
Minutes before sharing the video depicting Obama as apes, Trump’s account posted an eight-minute video claiming the Republican Party was originally founded primarily to stop the expansion of slavery.
In a 2015 interview with CNN, Trump said he intentionally retweets content for a reason.
However, the mystery of who posted the controversial ape video remains.
There is no publicly available record detailing:
- Who reviewed the video before it was posted
- Who gave final approval
- Why the video remained online for nearly 12 hours
Will we ever know who posted the video?
The White House says a staff member posted the video without Trump’s full review.
Trump has said he saw only the beginning of the clip and that it was removed once he became aware of it.
The White House has, however, released no documentation explaining how the post was approved or by whom it was authorized.
Because access to the account is limited to a small circle of senior aides and no review process has been disclosed, it’s hard to independently verify if a low-level aide posted the racist video.
But there’s no doubting the video pushed the White House into a defensive posture.
After initially dismissing outrage about the racist video, Trump and his aides abruptly shifted to apologizing and reaching out to lawmakers and journalists to calm the outrage sparked by the racist video.
At this point, it’s hard to pin down whether, in fact, a low-level staffer “erroneously made the post,” and whether Trump did not see the entire video before it sparked a firestorm of controversy.