LAST UPDATE | 7 Feb

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump said he “didn’t see” the part of a video posted on his social media account that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys.

“I just looked at the first part… and I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump told reporters after his initial defence, adding that he “gave it” to staffers to post and they also didn’t watch the full video.

The White House said that the post was erroneously made in error by a staff member, and has been removed. It had been up for nearly 12 hours.

But Trump’s spokeswoman earlier Karoline Leavitt had dismissed “fake outrage” over the post.

Leavitt had claimed that the image referenced an internet meme video depicting Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.

This was the initial statement from Karoline Leavitt:

“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King," she said. "Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually…

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) February 6, 2026

The social media output of the Trump White House has repeatedly gained attention this year, with recent posts from key government departments including images, slogans and music used by the white nationalist right.

With reporting by AFP