'I Didn't Make a Mistake': Trump Declines to Apologize for Racist Video of Obamas

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

‘I Didn’t Make a Mistake’: Trump Declines to Apologize for Racist Video of Obamas

The video clip that President Trump posted in a late-night flurry of social media activity caused an unusually strong and public outcry from members of his own party.


The decision to delete the link from his Truth Social account was an unusual walk-back by President Trump. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By Erica L. GreenIsabella Kwai and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Erica L. Green and Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Washington, and Isabella Kwai from London.

Feb. 6, 2026
Leer en español

President Trump posted a blatantly racist video clip portraying former President Barack Obama and the former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, but he insisted he had nothing to apologize for even after he deleted the video following an outcry.

The clip, set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” was spliced near the end of a 62-second video that promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and was among a flurry of links posted by Mr. Trump late Thursday night. It was the latest in a pattern by Mr. Trump of promoting offensive imagery and slurs about Black Americans and others.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday, Mr. Trump said he only saw the beginning of the video. “I just looked at the first part, it was about voter fraud in some place, Georgia,” Mr. Trump said. “I didn’t see the whole thing.”

He then tried to deflect blame, suggesting he had given the link to someone else to post. “I gave it to the people, generally they’d look at the whole thing but I guess somebody didn’t,” he told reporters. ... Still, Mr. Trump offered no contrition when pressed. “No, I didn’t make a mistake,” he said.

{snip}

Reporting was contributed by Tyler Pager, Dylan Freedman, Robert Jimison and Katie Rogers from Washington.

Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.

Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.

A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 7, 2026, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Posts, Then Erases, Racist Video of Obamas. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/us/politics/trump-obamas-video-apes-truth-social.html

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https://www.nytimes.com/es/2026/02/06/espanol/estados-unidos/trump-obama-video-racista.html

https://www.nytimes.com/by/erica-l-green
https://www.nytimes.com/by/isabella-kwai
https://www.nytimes.com/by/zolan-kanno-youngs

[evemac]

1. Trait of a narcissist

No apologies for their behavior.
Such garbage.

[raccoon]

2. Yep. The MF never apologizes for anything.

[BigmanPigman]

3. Trait of a sadistic psychopath too.

He wants to keep this new "distraction" alive so we forget whatshisname...EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN!!!!!

We can expect new distractions several times a week. Do NOT fall for it. I am an idiot and almost did earlier today. Bad, bad me!!!!!

[Akakoji]

54. You mean to say Republican?

#Epsteinknew and #pedoPOTUS need to b the first thing that any social media response says to anything. Throw some #Vance2028 in there if you really want to get attention.

[Irish_Dem]

5. He is a narcissistic psychopath, and they never apologies for their wrong doing.

They love the crimes they commit.
They are proud of it.

[William Seger]

11. America's smallest president (nt)

[Trueblue1968]

47. Trait of an evil racist POT. Send tRump to meet his maker SATAN now !!!!!!

[rubbersole]

4. Well, he didn't "make a mistake".

donnie being honest. That's rare for that racist classless piece of shit. We'll celebrate your demise.
PS - Thanks for causing America to get booed at the Olympics.

[livetohike]

6. Not a mistake. He meant to do it. He doesn't see

anything wrong with it either. Anything he can do to demean the past Presidents he will do. He thinks it makes him look good. In reality, he looks like a loser.

[Bluetus]

26. Absolutely the case. Nothing ever changes with this guy. His whole game

is to wake up every morning trying to say or do something even more outrageous than the last day. It keeps the attention on him and take attention off the crimes and offenses and screw-up from the previous day.

In his mind, this was 100% successful.

The best way to attack this behavior is to associate it with the 25th Amendment. Dems need to have daily briefings where they tally the things that should be pushing the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment. It is a strategic blunder to react to each of these outrages as separate, individual cases.

[Aviation Pro]

7. Just use the n-word already

You motherfucking pedophile.

[tavernier]

8. Methinks there are some very interesting pig pictures

being created as we speak. Quiet Piggy might be sorry he didn’t squeal his way out of it.

[SouthBayDem]

43. His story is so inconsistent

From "I shared it without watching the whole thing" to "a staffer posted it".

[TheRickles]

9. In a way, though, it's almost an admission of guilt.

In the context of his other comments, saying "I didn't make a mistake" really means "Someone else made a mistake". In other words, it was a mistake. It really takes some contortions to see it this way, but that's as close as these guys come to owning up to mistakes.

[FakeNoose]

16. Yes he's not monitoring what the staffers do in his name

... and it's all okey-doke with him. Chump's mantra has always been "Any press is good press" ... meaning he never cared whether the notoriety surrounding him was good or bad. He's been like that even since the early 1980's and nothing has changed since then.

And the US media outlets are SO happy to oblige him.

[live love laugh]

29. Remember his autopen BS? Who's autopenning now?

[Vinca]

10. Racist scum. My real remark would get me thrown off the site.

[mwb970]

12. trump is an animal. A sick, sad animal.

He needs to GO, right now. He is killing our country right in front of us.

[twodogsbarking]

13. Even the mild media is on this one. This could be a big mistake. Good.

[twodogsbarking]

14. Let's be clear here. America has a history of being racist.

See.

[Marcuse]

37. True, but...

[twodogsbarking]

46. May I addk "what little black history we had" is bing erased. He's even taking the bread crumbs

[RVN VET71]

15. Median IQ in U.S. is 100 (Average is 98)

That means, roughly, as many Americans have IQ's below 100 as have IQ's above 100.

Trump is aiming his message at the lower half of the median.

As more and more MAGA drift away from him, he targets, truly, the stupids, the lower half of the lower half, where so many "Republicans" dwell. These are the people who guffaw at his racism and just can't get enough of his racist and sexist "humor". The ones who love it when ICE drags a disabled American woman across the pavement, laughing while she screams that she's an American. The ones who say Renee Good and Max Petri got what they asked for, that the victims of assassination were responsible for their own assassinations -- because Kristi Noem says so.


(Average IQ in America is 98, according to sources.)

[JohnnyRingo]

17. That's not what Karoline said. She said it was a cute meme from The Lion King.

...and she's The Lyin' Queen. Notice how she avoided the obvious Planet of the Apes reference.

I'm tired of his supporters saying they aren't racists. At this point, if you're still behind him 100% you probably have a white robe in your closet.

[Marthe48]

18. Everyone post a pile of sh*t every time

He posts a lie, his unrelenting racism, or his misognony.

[kacekwl]

19. Pathetic five year old.

Not fit to rum a lemonade stand.

[Attilatheblond]

53. Given half a chance, I have no doubt he would revive his childhood game

of "make the baby cry" and chuck rocks at an infant in a playpin,

[MLWR]

20. The racist scumbag is genetically incapable of apologizing. For anything. EVER.

[AZLD4Candidate]

21. Deny, deflect, demonize. Roy Cohn had a great apprentice. Sadly that apprentice is dumber than a second coat of paint

[cstanleytech]

22. There are three options. #1 He posted because he's a racist prick. #2 He's senile. 3# All of the above.

[kacekwl]

61. I chose number three.

3

[txwhitedove]

23. He himself IS the mistake.

[electric_blue68]

40. Heh, was thinking that!

[cstanleytech]

59. Yup, if only his father had managed to pull out in time.

[mountain grammy]

24. His poll numbers are down

he's reminding his voters why they voted for him.. he won't aplogize or walk it back. They would hate that. He's a racist and they love and voted for exactly that. His numbers may even tick up a point or two.

Sickening.. he's dragging us backwards.

[Wednesdays]

31. It's as if the George Wallace of 1968 had won the presidency

The difference is, George Wallace wouldn't have wasted his time making stupid jokes.

[Pluvious]

34. And would likely have better impulse control (nt.)

[electric_blue68]

41. Hooo, boy... you hot a point there!...

1968 was the first Presidential election I volunteered for so I remember Wallace (Humphrey and Nixon).

[myohmy2]

25. every...

...Republican that doesn't slam trump hard for his racist Whitehouse should be considered a co-conspiring representative of the trump Republican Party...

...as Dems, we must continuously remind all Americans of just how disgusting the people within the new Republican Party actually are...

...any American that would vote for a Party or individual that so disrespected the Constitution, our Flag and all who fought and died for the principles and country we share should be considered persona non grata...

...and we will be measured by how we respond...

[purr-rat beauty]

27. Donald KKK Trump

we all knew he was racist for years
we all knew he was a pedophile for years
we all knew he was a con-man for years
we all knew he is a POS for years

this nation has an illness in our gov't, it should not be incurable

[sop]

28. Afraid he'll lose the hardcore MAGA supporters that have him at thirty-some percent.

[CTyankee]

30. I'm getting to where I get physically nauseated at reading the stuff he puts in the news every day.

I'm going to limit my intake of news he makes every goddam day because I get nauseated and depressed. I don't need that to happen.....

[electric_blue68]

42. Totally get this....

Back by the end of last April I realized I was getting a lot of tension headaches from all the drumphf & Co news.
So since then I usually take 1 or 2 days off from Trump news, sometimes all news.
It's been very helpful in that respect!

Now, I've been sadder bc of it all, but then I also plunge into books, TV shows, movies, do my art, crafts, look at nature photos, kittens vids and my joy returns.

[CTyankee]

65. I love your quote by Tennyson.

Yep, we need to seek a newer world...

[electric_blue68]

66. Oh! Right... TY I don't see the dedicated quote on people's posts, bc (I think)

I'm using a smart phone, not a regular computer, laptop, and maaaaybe...?tablet.

Nor do I see mine! So forgotten about it.

[JustKay]

32. The man has no bottom.

[bluestarone]

33. Pure fucking EVIL!!

What more proof do we need? I'll answer that with this word. NONE!

[hamsterjill]

35. Another take (other than the obvious as already stated here!!!)

He admits that he doesn't actually look at items put in front of him. Like real legislation, etc. He just signs what he's told.

Asshole! He's so jealous of the Obamas that he cannot contain himself. I hope that jealousy rots his sorry ass from within.

[IronLionZion]

36. It's intentional. No mistake. Everyone knows it

There are no apes or gorillas in The Lion King. That was an idiotic excuse from Karoline Leavitt.

I remember one monkey in the lion king and it was Rafiki the wise old baboon

[mn9driver]

38. He voices what his followers believe.

They consider virulent racism to be hilarious fun. The uglier the better.

[Rocknation]

39. He DIDN'T make a mistake? Or he didn't make THAT mistake?

The LEAST he can do is be sorry that it happened on his watch, if not on HIS social media account!


Rocknation

[piddyprints]

44. Of course he didn't!

He loves displaying his racism and this was a perfect opportunity. It's deplorable and never should have been done. But, no, he didn't make a mistake. He intended to do it. He's only making up his story now because it didn't go over so well.

[electric_blue68]

45. As a NYC'r I knew he was a boorish person but didn't pay much attention till he chirped about running for President...

Then started to hear about he & his father's racist housing actions.
Of course, when he started Obama's "born in Kenya" bs it was like "uh, oh", besides often Republican policies the virulent racism he espoused was going to be poisoning the atmosphere, along with his horrible sexism (and other bigotries) was going to be trouble!

He's so hideous!

[Montauk6]

48. He might as well do a post full of N-word/Hard R's

Seriously.
Who's gonna stop him? Who's gonna reprimand him? MAGA and MSM will simply make excuses for him.

BTW, has he demanded an Olympic Gold Medal yet?

[Justice matters.]

49. "an outcry" from his own "party" (mob)

how 'bout an "out the door" resolution from his own "mob" (cowards)?

[Lanius]

50. This keeps getting better and better.

It turns out that Republicans, including conservative Christians, voted for a man-child who turned out to be a racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, pedophilic, malignant narcissist.

I know the super-wealthy wanted their tax breaks - and the Christo-fascists want more anti-choice, anti-woman Supreme Court nominees - but when is enough chaos and hatred enough?

[MorbidButterflyTat]

51. An alleged "apology"

from a pathological lying, corrupt criminal convicted felon, dirty filthy rapist, racist scumbag means less than NOTHING.

Utterly pointless and worthless.

[Kid Berwyn]

52. He "thought" America would accept his racist joke.

Make it part of the New NAZI Heritage.

[druidity33]

55. So he doesn't have the attention span to watch

a 62 second video in full? What, he watched the first 30 seconds and said, "yeah, that's good"? He's a fucking moron.

[no_hypocrisy]

56. Just like my father. He was never wrong too.

[DownriverDem]

57. I know who made a mistake

trump made a mistake and all those who voted for him sure did.

[Evolve Dammit]

60. How is he not in prison??? What a miserable POS

[mdbl]

62. A worthless do-nothing Congress majority

and a corrupt supreme court.

[Cha]

63. Big Lump of Perverted SHIT.. Malignant

Cancer was BORN A MISTAKE.

[progressoid]

64. The buck stops where?