Did President Trump put AI picture of Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys?

1. What exactly was posted and where

The material in question was embedded near the end of a 62-second video posted to Trump’s Truth Social account that otherwise pushed debunked claims about the 2020 election; at roughly the 59–60 second mark the Obamas’ faces are shown on monkey bodies while “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays, a frame that several outlets report lasted for about one second ^{[1] [3] [5]}.

2. Origin and apparent use of AI

News organizations and fact-pattern reporting note a watermark linking the clip to an X account (XERIAS_X / Xerias) and say the dancing-primates segment was apparently AI-generated and spliced into the longer conspiratorial montage—reporters describe the image as superimposed and meme-derived rather than a genuine photo or video of the Obamas ^{[4] [1] [2] [6]}.

3. Immediate reactions and bipartisan condemnation

The post drew overwhelmingly negative attention across the political spectrum: prominent Democrats called it racist, civil-rights groups and journalists highlighted its echo of historical dehumanizing imagery, and even some Republicans publicly criticized it, with calls for deletion and apology; outlets catalogued reactions from figures including Hakeem Jeffries and GOP lawmakers who called the image offensive ^{[7] [8] [2] [5]}.

4. Deletion, White House response and later concession

After sustained backlash, the White House removed the post; initial White House statements framed the clip as “from an internet meme video” depicting Trump as “King of the Jungle,” but subsequent reporting described a concession that a White House staffer had “erroneously made the post” and that it had been taken down ^{[7] [9] [6]}. Reuters, AFP and other outlets noted the deletion and reported both the initial defense and later acknowledgment of error ^{[2] [9]}.

5. Why many outlets call it explicitly racist

Multiple outlets place the image in a longer historical pattern: depicting Black people as apes or monkeys is a well-documented racist trope used to dehumanize people of African descent, and civil-rights groups and historians treat such depictions as explicit racial slurs—reporting emphasizes that context when describing the Obamas frame ^{[10] [11] [3]}.

6. Alternative framings and possible agendas

The White House framing—that this was simply a repost of a meme intended to cast Trump as a lion among Democrats portrayed as animals—was advanced by spokespeople and some pro-Trump outlets as a deflection from the racist reading; other outlets and critics treat the reposting by a sitting president as amplification with political intent, noting Trump’s history of sharing AI-manipulated imagery of political foes as part of a broader communications strategy to energize his base ^{[7] [6] [9]}.

7. What reporting does not fully establish

Available sources document that the clip was on Trump’s Truth Social account, that it bore a watermark linking to a prior X post, that it was apparently AI-generated, and that it was deleted after criticism ^{[4] [1] [2]}. Public reporting does not provide definitive, independently verified forensic analysis publicly proving the clip’s precise production method or the internal chain-of-command that led to the repost, and outlets report the White House explanation that a staffer “erroneously made the post” without naming that staffer ^{[9] [6]}.

Conclusion

In short: yes—President Trump posted a Truth Social video that included a brief, apparently AI-generated depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama superimposed on ape bodies; the image was widely condemned as echoing racist tropes and the post was removed after political and public backlash, with the White House first defending the video as a meme and later saying the post was made in error ^{[1] [2] [9]}.