The White House blamed a “staff error” after a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife as monkeys appeared on Donald Trump’s personal Truth Social account and remained online for about 12 hours before removal.
The video, which the Republican president shared on the platform he owns, sparked widespread backlash, including criticism from within the Republican Party.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially dismissed the reaction as “fake outrage” and attacked media outlets that reported on the post. She did not initially describe the upload as a mistake.
After the edited footage triggered stronger condemnation, the White House changed its response. A senior official said an employee posted the content by accident and confirmed the account deleted the video.
Republican Senator Katie Britt welcomed the removal in a post on X, saying the content should never have been published and did not represent the United States.
The presidency has not responded to requests for further clarification about the unnamed employee or who manages Trump’s personal Truth Social account. The platform serves as an official communication channel for the president, where he posts about meetings with world leaders but also uses it to attack political opponents and comment on a wide range of issues.
The roughly one-minute video claimed to show evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, which Trump continues to insist he won. The clip ended with an image of the Obamas’ smiling faces placed on monkey bodies against a jungle background.
The far-right website Patriot News Outlet originally posted the video. Trump reposted it twice, while the White House initially followed its usual practice of defending the president’s posts.
Leavitt said the clip came from an online video that portrayed Trump as “king of the jungle” and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. However, the video posted on Truth Social used only a short excerpt — the image of the Obamas depicted as monkeys.
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