Did President Donald Trump post monkey images of the Obama‘s on TruthSocial?

1. What was posted and how it appeared

The item Trump shared on Truth Social was a roughly one‑minute video promoting false claims about the 2020 election that near its end shows the Obamas’ faces placed on primate bodies for about one second while the opening of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays, a detail reported by multiple outlets that captured the same frame of the video. ^{[1] [3]}

2. Confirmation across mainstream outlets

Major news organizations — including CNN, The Guardian, France 24, Axios, Newsweek and CP24 — independently reported that the president reposted a video on Truth Social which included imagery depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys, and they documented the resulting backlash. ^{[1] [4] [3] [5] [6] [7]}

3. The clip’s origin and nature

Reporting indicates the segment is AI‑generated or heavily edited meme material that circulated previously on other right‑wing accounts; The Guardian and other outlets note the frame appears taken from a longer 55‑second video that had earlier appeared online, and several outlets described the imagery as produced or amplified through AI or doctored visuals. ^{[4] [2] [8]}

4. Political and public reaction

The post sparked swift condemnation from Democrats, civil‑rights groups and numerous commentators who called the depiction racist and dehumanizing, citing the long history of racist caricatures that compare Black people to apes; top Democrats and advocacy organizations publicly denounced the post. ^{[5] [1] [6] [3] [5]}

5. Reactions from Republicans and the White House

Responses within the GOP were not monolithic: some Republicans, including Sen. Tim Scott, publicly criticized the post as among the most racist things to come from the White House, while White House spokespeople sought to downplay the uproar by framing the material as an “internet meme,” according to published reports that cited statements or linked posts. ^{[9] [7] [4]}

6. Platform context and timing

The video was shared on Truth Social during a late‑night posting spree by the president, an activity pattern previously noted in coverage of his use of the platform; outlets tied the clip to broader election‑fraud messaging the video promoted and flagged the post’s timing in early February amid Black History Month coverage. ^{[2] [10] [8]}

7. Limitations and verifiable facts

Available reporting consistently documents that the president posted the video on Truth Social and that it included the Obamas’ ape imagery; reporting attributes the clip to AI/manipulated meme content but does not present a court‑verified provenance or an admission by the video’s original creator, so the precise origin chain beyond prior online circulation remains reported but not independently forensic‑verified in the sources reviewed. ^{[4] [2] [8]}

8. Why this matters

The episode reignited debate about the president’s use of his platform to amplify demeaning images and debunked conspiracies, the limits of social media accountability for a sitting president, and the broader cultural memory of racist tropes that have historically dehumanized Black people — concerns repeatedly cited across the coverage. ^{[5] [1] [6]}