US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to share a video on his official Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, insisting he made no mistake and does not owe an apology.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he did not view the entire clip before it was posted. According to him, he only watched the opening segment, which he claimed focused on allegations of voter fraud involving voting machines during the 2020 presidential election.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said, adding that he relied on his team to review the full content before publication. “I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part… Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t.”
When pressed on whether he condemned the video’s racist depiction of the Obamas, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
The video, posted late Thursday, promoted conspiracy claims about the 2020 election and included imagery widely criticised as racist. It remained on Trump’s account for approximately 12 hours before being deleted Friday morning following bipartisan calls for its removal.
Earlier, the White House had defended the post in a statement issued by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who described it as an internet meme portraying Trump as the “King of the Jungle” and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. She dismissed criticism of the post as “fake outrage” and urged the media to focus on other issues.
The video was later removed without further official explanation.
