Donald Trump has had a long-standing aversion to former President Barack Obama and, at times, to the first lady, Michelle Obama, dating back more than a decade. Some of his earliest attacks against the history-making POTUS began in 2011 and they appear to be going strong in 2026.
Trump shared a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys on Feb. 5, 2026.
On Feb. 5, 2026, Trump sparked significant controversy on social media after he posted a video on his Truth Social platform that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, a racist trope with historical use to dehumanize Black people. Offensively, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens played in the background, as the racist image flashed across the screen.
According to reports, the video appeared at the end of a clip promoting false claims about the 2020 election and immediately drew widespread uproar from political figures across the spectrum. Notably, Republican Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi was the first to call out Trump, calling the video “unacceptable.”
“The president should take it down and apologize,” he added.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who is Black and represents South Carolina, also condemned Trump’s actions.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”
According to NBC News, the video was taken down shortly before noon on Feb. 6.
“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” a White House official told the outlet.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the video as a satirical meme and criticized reactions as “fake 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.’ Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
2011–2016: Birther Attacks and Campaign Insults
Long before his presidential run, Donald Trump became one of the most prominent promoters of the “birther” conspiracy, repeatedly questioning whether Barack Obama was actually born in the United States. The Republican Party was determined to undermine Obama’s legitimacy as president and dogged him throughout much of the 2010s.
According to the BBC, in March 2011, Trump publicly raised what he described as “serious questions” about whether President Obama possessed a legitimate U.S. birth certificate. In the days that followed, he escalated those claims, announcing that he had dispatched private investigators to Hawaii to uncover what he framed as the “real story.” He later offered a $5 million charitable donation to anyone who could prove that Obama had, in fact, been born in the United States.
Trump pushed the false allegation for years on social media and in interviews, demanding Obama release his birth certificate and suggesting Obama was ineligible to serve as president. Trump finally acknowledged during the 2016 campaign that “President Obama was born in the United States. Period,” during a White House press conference, after widespread criticism. Sadly, he did not offer an apology for harassing Barack Obama over the years.
“I was pretty confident about where I was born,” he joked, according to CNN.
Michelle Obama issued a statement shortly after Trump’s admission.
“There were those who questioned and continue to question for the past eight years up through this very day whether my husband was even born in this country,” she said, during a speech at George Mason University in Fairfax that year. “Well, during his time in office, I think Barack has answered those questions with the example he set by going high when they low.”
The attacks, however, did not stop at nationality. Throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump also regularly disparaged Obama’s leadership and legacy. According to compilations of Trump’s insults, he labeled Obama’s presidency as “a disaster” and claimed he was “the worst president in U.S. history.” These descriptors appeared repeatedly on Trump’s campaign social media accounts and in public remarks attacking Obama’s policies on health care, foreign affairs, and the economy.
2017–2020: Continued Public Attacks During Obama’s Post-Presidency
After taking office in 2017, Trump continued to criticize Obama’s record. Much of this rhetoric focused on Obama-era policies, especially the Affordable Care Act, which he has slammed as the “Unaffordable Care Act,” and the former president’s Obamacare health plan, calling it “bad” and “terrible” healthcare. Trump has also slammed the first Black president’s international agreements, such as the Iran nuclear deal.
Trump often framed Obama’s decisions as weak or harmful to American interests. These attacks were frequent in speeches and social media posts, as Trump stoked partisan resentment toward his predecessor’s record.
While explicit insults like those from earlier years became less prominent, Trump’s political messaging continued to connect Obama’s legacy with issues he blamed for national problems. And he continues to do so today in 2026.
2024–2025: Digital Provocations and Online Insults
By 2024 and into 2025, Trump’s attacks on Obama shifted heavily onto digital platforms and memes. Multiple media reports documented Trump reposting provocative content targeting Obama.
In late 2025, for example, Trump shared an AI-generated deepfake meme to his Truth Social account that depicted Barack Obama bowing down to him. The video ended showing the Democrat locked up in jail dressed in an orange prison suit. He continued sharing disparaging comments and images of the former president that year.
Observers noted that these online attacks were part of a pattern of Trump exploiting internet culture and provocative digital media to attack Obama and other figures from the Obama administration.
Sadly, he doesn’t appear to be stopping this behavior any time soon in 2026.
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