Trump says he directed posting of racist video that depicted Obamas as apes but claims not to have seen offensive images
Donald Trump admitted on Air Force One Friday night that he did direct aides to post a racist video on his social media account that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, but claimed that he did not see that part of the video, which was near the end of a 62-second clip that otherwise repeated conspiracy theories about his 2020 election loss.
Although the White House initially defended the video, in a statement from the press secretary, the video was later deleted and reporters were told that it had been posted, without the president’s knowledge, by an aide.
Natalie Harp, an aide to Trump, and a former anchor for the conspiratorial One American News, reportedly has access to the president’s Truth Social account.
As he so often does, Trump undercut efforts by his aides to explain away his own behavior, by telling reporters that he did approve posting the video. “I looked at it, I saw it and I just looked at the first part,” the president said. “I didn’t see the whole thing; I guess during the end of it there was some kind of a [thing] that people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either. But I didn’t see it, I just, I looked at the first part… then I gave it to the people. Generally they look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn’t and they posted- and we took it down.”
Asked if he would apologize, as even Republican officials have suggested he should, Trump bristled. “No, I didn’t make a mistake,” the president who approved the posting of a racist meme on his social media account said. “I mean you give, I look at a lot of, thousands of things,” he added, apparently suggesting that his posts, which are official statements from the president of the United States, are not something he takes much care about.
Trump then went on to offer a version of the explanation his press secretary had given earlier in the day, when the post was left up, that the meme was a reference to The Lion King. “Nobody knew that was at the end” he added, in reference to what was, again, a clip that lasted just over one minute. “Certainly if they had looked, they would’ve seen it, and probably they would’ve had the sense to take it down.”
Trump’s claim that the clip was taken down as soon as the racist depiction of the Obamas was discovered is untrue, given that the post remained up for hours after Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, attempted to brush off the outrage.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Leavitt said in a statement on Friday morning. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Key events
Hegseth says US defense department will no longer support ‘woke’ Harvard
Pete Hegseth, the former Fox weekend host now serving as US defense secretary, announced in a video statement on Friday that the Pentagon is “discontinuing all graduate-level professional military education, PME, all fellowships, and certificate programs between Harvard University and the war department for active-duty service members”.
Hegseth, who made no mention of the master’s in public policy he earned from Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government, attacked the university as “one of the red-hot centers of Hate America activism”.
“Too many faculty members openly loathe our military; they cast our armed forces in. a negative light and squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings,” he said.
“With some exceptions,” Hegseth added, “the Ivy League as a whole has pervasive institutional bias and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the coddling of toxic ideologies that undercuts our mission.”
“That is why, in two weeks’ time, components of all of our departments – army, navy and air force – will evaluate all existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at all Ivy League universities and other civilian universities,” he added.
“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost-effective, strategic education for future senior leaders.”
The Pentagon’s focus on “building lethality”, Hegseth also said, “no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country. We train warriors, not wokesters.”
The Harvard alumni ended his video message with: “Harvard: good riddance.”
While Hegseth made no explicit reference to his own time at Harvard, the intended audience for his remarks, Fox News viewers, including Viewer Number One in the White House, likely understood what he meant by the cryptic aside “I know it well” when he first mentioned the school.
That’s because Hegseth’s attack on Harvard has been a theme of his political rhetoric in books and on television for years. He disparaged the school in two of his books, and, in a live segment of the morning show Fox & Friends in 2022, Hegseth made a show of defacing his diploma and writing “Return to sender” on it in large letters.
During the same broadcast, Hegseth acknowledged that he was not really “returning” his degree: “People will say, ‘This is just a stunt, you still have a degree’. And that’s fine, I went; I got the degree; I walked; took the classes and all that.”
Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Friday to boost imports of Argentinian beef, though economists have said the attempt to lower costs for American consumers will probably have little impact on prices, Reuters reports.
When the White House first said Trump would raise the limit on how much low-tariff beef could be imported from Argentina, US cattle ranchers were enraged.
Trump has faced pressure to address the issue of affordability, which he has been calling “a hoax” since a focus on rising costs helped Democratic candidates sweep several elections in 2025.
The move comes as US beef prices set record highs last year, benefiting ranchers who largely supported Trump, due to strong consumer demand and declining cattle supplies
Ranchers slashed the herd to its lowest level in 75 years as of January, after a persistent drought burned up pastures used for grazing and hiked feeding costs, according to US data.
Trump’s decision to raise the tariff rate quota on Argentine beef by 80,000 metric tons will let Argentina ship more of its beef to the US at a lower rate of duty. The increase will apply only to lean beef trimmings, which are blended with domestic supplies to make hamburger meat, according to the proclamation.
“Instead of imports that sideline American ranchers, we should be focused on solutions that cut red tape, lower production costs, and support growing our cattle herd,” said Deb Fischer, a Republican senator from the major cattle-producing state of Nebraska.
Economists have said increased US imports of Argentinian beef will likely be too small to significantly lower costs for grocery store shoppers, but the shipments could help improve margins for food companies.
The US imported about 33,000 metric tons of Argentinian beef in 2024, representing 2% of total imports, according to government data.
Boos for JD Vance are heard at Olympics opening ceremony, but not by viewers in US
While video posted on social media captured the booing of JD Vance, the US vice-president, at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan, the crowd reaction to his presence was not heard or remarked upon in the US TV coverage streamed live on Peacock, the NBC Sports platform.
“As the United States team, led by the speedskater Erin Jackson, made its way across the stadium it was loudly applauded,” the Guardian’s Sean Ingle reported from the San Siro in Milan. “But then the TV cameras panned to the US vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha, and the cheers turned to loud boos.
“The boos were picked up on the broadcast, too,” the Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur noted, referring to the Canadian broadcaster CBC’s coverage of the moment, which featured one commentator saying: “There is the vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha – oop, those are not … uh … those are a lot of boos for him. Whistling, jeering, some applause.”
The NBC live stream seen by Americans, however, skipped over the moment. The booing of Vance, when he appeared on screens inside the stadium during the entry of Team USA, was also not audible, or mentioned in a clip of the moment posted on YouTube by the broadcaster.
On social media, the White House shared a clip of the US team’s entrance, and Vance applauding, from the boo-less NBC broadcast.
Other journalists inside the stadium confirmed the unusual booing during the ceremony.
“It’s very rare to hear boos at an Olympic opening ceremony,” the USA Today correspondent Christine Brennan reported from Italy. “In my 22 Olympics it probably has happened but I sure don’t remember it. Vice President JD Vance just got booed when he appeared on the big screen. The US athletes, on the other hand, received loud cheers.”
The BBC Sport live blogger heard the boos. “The USA team got huge cheers as they entered the arena,” Emma Smith reported from the stadium for the BBC. “Those cheers turned quickly to boos when American vice president JD Vance appeared on the big screen. He is at the stadium tonight with wife Usha.”
Arthur noted that Vance was not alone in being booed. “Israel was definitely booed,” the columnist noted on the Star’s live blog. “ Not universally, but there were more boos than cheers in the Milan stadium for the four Israeli athletes who marched.”
Bill Clinton demands public hearing in Congress and full release of Epstein files
Bill Clinton, the former president, renewed his call for the full release of files from the federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender, and demanded that his testimony to Congress on his relationship with Epstein be made in a public hearing, not behind closed doors.
“I have called for the full release of the Epstein files. I have provided a sworn statement of what I know. And just this week, I’ve agreed to appear in person before the committee. But it’s still not enough for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee,” Clinton said in a statement.
“Now, Chairman Comer says he wants cameras, but only behind closed doors. Who benefits from this arrangement? It’s not Epstein’s victims, who deserve justice. Not the public, who deserve the truth. It serves only partisan interests. This is not fact-finding, it’s pure politics,” he added. “I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared. If they want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about.”
The former president’s spokesman has said that he used Epstein’s private jet on four trips in 2002 and 2003 – visiting Europe, Asia and Africa “in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation” – but denied ever visiting Epstein private island and claimed he had no contact with him after he was first charged with sex crimes.
Bill Clinton’s statement on Friday seconded a call made by his wife, the former first lady and US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, on Thursday, when she accused James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, of playing “games”, by demanding testimony from both Clintons, but behind closed doors. “You love to talk about transparency,” Hillary Clinton told Comer on social media. “There’s nothing more transparent than a public hearing, cameras on.”
Sanya Mansoor
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general is investigating federal immigration authorities’ use of surveillance technologies. That includes the collection of sensitive biometric data and the use of facial recognition technology, which has become increasingly used by DHS and ICE agents against immigrants and citizens.
Joseph Cuffari, the head of the DHS watchdog, wrote in a letter on Friday that his office’s audit would address many concerns flagged by Democratic senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. The pair wrote to Cuffari on 29 January –following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, about potential civil liberty violations tied to federal laws about data privacy and unlawful searches.
“ICE’s new information collection tools potentially enable DHS to circumvent the constitutional protections provided by the fourth amendment-protections guaranteed to all Americans and all persons within our borders,” the senators wrote.
The letter took particular issue with ICE’s contracts with surveillance and analytics firm, Palantir, and facial recognition software developer, Clearview AI, as well as the use of programs “that DHS does not have office access to-including Flock License Plate Scanning Software”.
Senators asked for more information about how DHS stores and uses sensitive, personally identifying data, reckons with false positives, considers consent around data collection and how this data may be used to define targets of immigration enforcement activities.
The Senators said in a joint press release on Friday that the investigation is “an important first step in investigating if Americans’ data is being misused.”
For some immigration advocates, there’s a need for even more urgency. “ICE has been operating like a paramilitary force, using facial recognition tech to suppress dissent and target people of color in blatant racial profiling incidents across the country,” said Laura Rivera, senior staff attorney at Just Futures Law, in an emailed statement. (The organization has been working to uncover more details about Palantir’s collaboration with DHS through public records requests). “An Inspector General investigation into these abuses is far from enough-we need real accountability and a ban on the use of this noxious method of surveillance.”
This week, congressional Democrats also introduced a measure that would ban ICE and CBP from using facial recognition technology and other biometric identification systems.
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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Following intense backlash from Democrats and Republicans, the White House has now taken down Trump’s Truth Social repost of a racist video, depicting the Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Earlier, press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to brush off the outrage, defending Trump’s repost as “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King”.
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Indirect talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme ended on Friday with a broad agreement to maintain a diplomatic path, possibly with further talks in the coming days, according to statements from Iran and the Omani hosts. The relieved Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the eight hours of meetings as a “good start” conducted in a good atmosphere. The US team was led by Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
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Donald Trump has told the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, that he will unfreeze funds for major infrastructure projects in New York City if he supports renaming Dulles international airport and Penn Station after him. The demand, which was first reported on Thursday by Punchbowl News, comes after the president in October halted $18bn in funding for a major subway line expansion in New York City as well as a new rail tunnel connecting the city to New Jersey.
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The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced today that officials arrested one of the “key participants” in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four US government officials, including the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens. Bondi said suspect Zubayar al-Bakoush was taken into custody at 3am ET on Friday. “We will prosecute this alleged terrorist to the fullest extent of the law. He’ll face charges related to murder, terrorism, arson, among others,” Bondi told reporters today.
Newsom debunks DHS claim that California plans to release 33,000 undocumented criminals from state prisons
Earlier today, the Department of Homeland Security issued a press release claiming that California plans to release more than 33,000 undocumented criminals from the state’s jails if detainers – ICE’s civil requests that local agencies are not legally required to honor – aren’t honored.
There are a few things to unpack here. First, the administration is referring to “jails.” California state law sharply restricts any cooperation between county jails and federal immigration enforcement. Accessing jails has long been a goal for Trump officials seeking to increase deportation numbers. In Minnesota, for example, Tom Homan, the president’s “border czar”, has routinely pushed sheriffs to transfer people from jails to federal custody during the ongoing immigration crackdown. Homan said this week that more counties are pledging to work with the agency, since state law there allows sheriffs to decide the level of collaboration.
In California, the state prison system is run by the California department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR), which does cooperate with ICE in limited circumstances.
Under state law, CDCR may notify ICE and transfer custody when people with certain serious or violent felony convictions complete their sentences. Normally, when someone’s release date is approaching, CDCR contacts ICE to determine whether the agency intends to take custody. If the person is a noncitizen and ICE has not issued a detainer, CDCR still notifies federal immigration authorities ahead of the inmate’s release.
The most recent data from CDCR shows that in 2025, ICE picked up more than 88% of the people for whom it issued detainers while they were in state prison.
One key point: neither state prisons nor jails are permitted to hold someone past their scheduled release date – a common ask by federal immigration agents.
Newsom’s office doubled down on the state prison system’s longstanding compliance today, while accusing the Trump administration of trying to “distract” from the president posting a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama.
“California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS – like sick rapists and murderers – in our state prisons,” the governor’s office wrote on social media.
It’s not clear what source the administration is using to claim there are more than 33,000 undocumented criminals in California’s jails, or if they meant the prison system. In 2025, CDCR recorded only 1,641 ICE detainers for the more than 26,000 people released from custody.
Neither the White House nor DHS immediately responded to the Guardian’s requests for comment.
New Jersey Democratic primary on knife edge as votes trickle in
Chris Stein, Robert Mackey and Maya Yang
The outcome of a special Democratic primary to fill a US House of Representatives seat representing northern New Jersey was on a knife-edge on Friday, after a progressive challenger took a surprise lead over a former Democratic congressman who initially appeared to have won the nomination.
The election held on Thursday in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district was prompted by Democrat Mikie Sherrill’s resignation last year after she was elected governor. Eleven Democrats vied to replace her, and on Thursday evening, Tom Malinowski, who represented a neighboring district in the House from 2019 through 2022, took an early lead.
The Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin, quickly congratulated Malinowski, but as the ballot count continued, Analilia Mejia, a progressive activist and former political director for Bernie Sanders, overtook the former congressman.
The Associated Press has not yet called the race, but Mejia was leading Malinowski by 488 votes on Friday morning, with more than 61,000 ballots counted.
Amid the controversy around the president’s late-night post of a racist video of the Obamas, he just noted that he finished a meeting with the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.
“It went really well,” the president said on Truth Social. “Terrific people who adore the Building, and love our Country even more.”
A reminder that the committee is working with the Trump administration on his renovation of the East Wing of the White House, which includes the construction of a new ballroom, that comes with a $300m price tag.
Chris Stein
Donald Trump has told the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, that he will unfreeze funds for major infrastructure projects in New York City if he supports renaming Dulles international airport and Penn Station after him.
The demand, which was first reported on Thursday by Punchbowl News, comes after the president in October halted $18bn in funding for a major subway line expansion in New York City as well as a new rail tunnel connecting the city to New Jersey. The funding freeze was announced on the first day of a 43-day government shutdown in which Schumer, who represents New York, played a major role.
A spokesman for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
Trump, who is not eligible to serve another term as president, has moved to emblazon his name on a host of government buildings and websites since taking office a year ago, including the Kennedy Center and the US Institute for Peace. It is unclear if either change is legal.
He also pushed congressional Republicans to create new tax-advantaged investment accounts for young people dubbed “Trump Accounts”, and announced a new government-run website to sell discounted prescription drugs called TrumpRX.com.
The president is also reportedly planning to build a 250ft arch across the river from Washington DC that would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial.
Here’s what some more Democratic lawmakers had to say in condemning Donald Trump’s repost, which included a racist clip depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, and calling on Republicans to speak out.
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders wrote:
Trump posted a disgustingly racist video depicting the Obamas as apes.
Are my Republican colleagues going to continue to bend the knee to a racist, authoritarian president who wants the American people to bow down before him?
Senator Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland, said on X:
The vile video is racist. Period. And it came from a racist White House. If you can’t say that, what are we doing here.
Also of Maryland, governor Wes Moore said:
The President’s post on Truth Social goes beyond a dog whistle. It is blatant racism, relying on imagery that has long been used to demean and dehumanize Black people. But this moment is about more than a single post. The words our leaders choose matter. The images they invoke matter. It shapes how we see one another and the kind of country we are deciding to be. Leadership is about bringing people together, not tearing each other apart.
Reverend Raphael Warnock, senator from Georgia, similarly evoked images of division:
Yes … I saw the racist meme from the President of the United States. The President is trying to summon our country’s darkest demons to further divide us. Our nation’s spiritual rot is coming from the White House. I’m calling on all decent and honorable people to condemn this unabashed racism. Push back on hate, let love abide.
Colorado senator John Hickenlooper said:
Is the President sharing these disgusting racist images to distract people from his ICE agents killing people in the street? I don’t even think he deserves that credit. Every single Republican should denounce this immediately.
Virginia senator Tim Kaine said:
Trump was back at it again last night spamming his Truth Social with conspiracy theories, weird video edits, and racist depictions of Barack and Michelle Obama. How can anyone say this is a good look for the US or that this is a mentally well leader who should be in power?
Also from Virginia, senator Mark Warner said:
Trump’s blatant racism is indefensible.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said:
The overnight post from the President of the United States is nothing but vile, racist filth. He should be ashamed of himself, if he were capable of shame. Taking it down is not enough. The White House must apologize for this beyond disgusting behavior.
In a statement to Reuters, Derrick Johnson, national president of civil rights group the NAACP said:
Donald Trump’s video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable. Voters are watching and will remember this at the ballot box.
White House deletes Trump post after furious backlash and says it was ‘erroneously’ made by a staffer
Following an intense backlash this morning, the White House has now taken down Trump’s Truth Social repost of a video showing a racist clip depicting the Obamas as apes.
Multiple outlets cite a senior White House official as saying:
A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.
The post was up for 12 hours.
As we reported earlier, a few hours ago the White House had initially tried to brush off the outrage, defending Trump’s repost as “an internet meme video”.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Karoline Leavitt said earlier. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Politicians from both parties have this morning condemned the post and urged Trump to remove it. CNN also reports that GOP lawmakers had called Trump to discuss it with him, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has also slammed the “racist, bigoted audacity” of Trump’s post, calling the president’s behaviour “disgusting and disturbing”.
Ending her X post, Crockett addressed her Republican peers:
But when will it be enough for those who continue to stand beside him? When will Republicans in Congress condemn his behavior? Your silence is complicity – and it is very loud.
Joining the chorus of disapproval today is Republican congressman Mike Lawler, a moderate representative from New York, who called the Trump’s post “wrong and incredibly offensive”.
Lawler said the video “should be deleted immediately with an apology offered”.
GOP senator calls on Trump to delete racist video of Obamas
Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator in Congress, had condemned the racist video that Donald Trump posted on social media, depicting the Obamas as apes.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott said. “The president should remove it.”