'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!!!!!

[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)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[txwhitedove]

23. He himself IS the mistake.

[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.

[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...