The White House initially dismissed criticism that the video was racist, and said it is from a meme depicting Trump and the Obamas as characters from the Lion King. Trump does not appear in the video, which he posted just before midnight on Feb. 5 with no accompanying text.

But by noon ET on Feb. 6 ‒ after the post had been up about 12 hours ‒ it no long appeared on Truth Social. A White House official told USA TODAY on Feb. 6 a White House staffer had erroneously made the post and that it was taken down.