US President Donald Trump has deleted an artificial intelligence-generated video he posted on social media after it sparked widespread criticism for containing racist images, according to foreign media reports.
The one-minute video was posted to President Trump’s Truth social account on Friday, but was deleted about 12 hours later following strong public backlash.
Controversial images spark criticism
The AI-generated clip depicted President Trump as a lion and Democrats as subordinate characters. The final scene, in which former US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are shown as monkeys, drew sharp criticism.
Reuters reported that the video was removed after critics accused Trump of promoting racist stereotypes. Commentators and civil rights activists noted that throughout U.S. history, white leaders have often dehumanized people of African descent by portraying them as monkeys or apes, and accused Trump of perpetuating similar images.
Several Republican lawmakers also called on President Trump to delete the video and apologize. Some people reportedly contacted the White House directly to express their concerns. Civil rights groups condemned the video in strong terms. NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the video “blatantly racist and hateful.”
White House response and political reaction
President Trump said he condemned the video, saying it was posted by his staff. A White House official said the video was uploaded due to staff error and was immediately deleted, declining to identify the staffers involved.
Officials say only a limited number of senior aides have direct access to Trump’s social media accounts. Earlier, White House press secretary Caroline Levitt dismissed the criticism as a “false outrage” and defended her post.
President Trump said he only watched the beginning of the video and not the last scene. “I only watched the first part of the video, I didn’t see the end,” Trump said, adding that he had allowed aides to post the part they had viewed related to allegations of fraud in election machines.
Representatives for President Obama have not commented on the matter. Republican Sen. Tim Scott, a Trump ally, wrote to X that he hoped the video was not real, saying that if it came from the White House, it would be “the most racist thing” to come out of it.
