Did Trump share a picture/post of the obamas depicted as apes?

1. The post and what it showed

Late on Feb. 5/early Feb. 6, 2026, Trump’s verified Truth Social account published a roughly one-minute video that, near its end, flashes an edited frame showing the Obamas’ faces on ape bodies set to the opening of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” for about one second (news outlets describe one-to-two seconds), a detail reported by CNN, Newsweek and others ^{[1] [4] [2]}.

2. Context inside a conspiracy clip

The video Trump shared primarily pushed debunked claims about voting machines and election fraud; the Obamas’ ape image is appended to that longer meme-like clip rather than forming the main content, according to CNN, USA Today and The Independent ^{[1] [3] [5]}.

3. How multiple outlets framed the act

Major news organizations — The New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, Axios, Newsweek and others — uniformly reported the Truth Social post, described the imagery as recalling historically racist tropes that dehumanize Black people, and recorded quick bipartisan outrage ^{[6] [7] [1] [8] [2]}.

4. Backlash, bipartisan condemnation, and political defense

The post drew immediate condemnation across the political spectrum — from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic operatives to at least one Republican senator calling it particularly egregious — while the White House press secretary defended the share as part of a longstanding internet meme portraying Trump as a “King of the Jungle” and dismissed criticism as “fake outrage,” a defense widely reported but which did not resolve public outrage ^{[2] [9] [10] [7]}.

5. Questions of intent and provenance

News reports consistently note the clip appears to have been created or circulated by a pro‑Trump meme account (watermarked @XERIAS_X in at least one frame) and that the White House linked to an earlier October 2025 version of a similar meme; outlets also reported the White House did not say whether Trump personally added or reviewed the specific Obama frame before it went live, leaving the president’s direct intent or awareness unconfirmed in the available reporting ^{[4] [10] [11]}.

6. Pattern and precedents cited by reporters

Coverage places the episode in a pattern: outlets cite prior Trump-era posts and shares of manipulated videos or AI clips involving public figures (including past AI depictions of Obama and altered images of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries), using that history to explain why observers read this latest insertion as deliberate or reckless amplification even if disputed by the White House ^{[1] [10] [12]}.

7. What can and cannot be concluded from the reporting

The factual record in these sources establishes that Trump’s Truth Social account published the video containing the Obamas-as-apes imagery and that the post remained up as of morning coverage, prompting condemnation and a White House rebuttal; the sources do not provide definitive proof that Trump personally uploaded or knew about the specific Obama clip before it was posted, so intent cannot be conclusively determined from the available reporting ^{[9] [8] [10]}.

8. Why the reaction matters

Reporters and experts cited by outlets underscore that comparing Black people to apes is a historically violent racist trope that carries deep symbolism and consequence, which explains why a brief image—whether intentional or not—triggered broad denunciations and renewed debate about standards for a sitting president’s social-media communications ^{[6] [5] [1]}.