Trump said he would not dismiss the staffer involved and insisted he had no reason to apologise, arguing that he himself had not made an error….reports Asian Lite news
US president Donald Trump said on Friday that he had approved the posting of a video on his Truth Social account that later appeared to depict Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes, but sought to deflect responsibility for its publication, saying a staff member had posted the clip without fully reviewing it.
The video, which was shared late on Thursday night and later deleted, was embedded within a longer piece of content promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. It relied on racist tropes, showing the faces of the former president and first lady superimposed on cartoon apes dancing to The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The post quickly drew widespread condemnation.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he had only briefly viewed the opening segment of the video before handing it off to aides. He maintained that his focus had been on claims of voter fraud and alleged irregularities with voting machines, not on the offensive imagery that appeared later in the clip.
“No, I looked at the first part. It was really about voter fraud and the machines – how crooked it is, how disgusting it is,” Trump said. “Then I gave it to the people. Generally they’d look at the whole thing but I guess somebody didn’t and they posted it. And then we deleted it.”
Trump said he would not dismiss the staffer involved and insisted he had no reason to apologise, arguing that he himself had not made an error. His account of events, however, triggered renewed speculation within his political orbit over who ultimately authorised the post and how such content made it onto his official social media feed.
According to people familiar with the matter, access to Trump’s Truth Social account is limited to just two aides in addition to the president himself: Dan Scavino and Natalie Harp. Advisers were quick to discount Scavino as the source of the post, noting that he has recently been consumed by his role running the presidential personnel office. Attention instead turned to Harp, a close and long-standing aide who has frequently been involved in Trump’s communications.
The White House declined to comment on the internal discussions following a turbulent day that initially saw the press office defend the video before reversing course and attributing it to a staff mistake. Trump reportedly repeated that explanation in private conversations with Republican lawmakers.
In a call with Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Trump said the post had been made by a staffer and promised it would be taken down. Scott publicly condemned the video as racist, according to CBS News.
The decision to delete the clip marked a rare retreat for Trump, who has historically stood by even his most inflammatory statements. Earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had dismissed criticism, characterising the video as an internet meme and accusing critics of “fake outrage”.
Harp, 35, is regarded as one of Trump’s most devoted aides. She joined his 2024 re-election campaign early and earned the nickname “Human Printer” for travelling with a portable printer to provide Trump with hard copies of social media posts and news articles. While her loyalty has been rewarded with close access to the president, colleagues have previously raised concerns about her judgment and unorthodox operating style. Despite that, advisers suggested there were unlikely to be any consequences for anyone involved in the episode.
