President Donald Trump shared an altered image of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, on Sunday. The image depicted them boarding Air Force One, which appeared defaced with graffiti. This incident followed a previous racist post showing the Obamas as primates in a jungle, which was deleted amid bipartisan criticism.
The new image presented the Obamas smiling and waving beside a baby blue and white presidential plane. The plane featured graffiti with the slogans “Yes We Can,” “Obama” and “BLM,” along with Arabic writing translating to “praise be to God.” Graffiti, used here, serves as a coded reminder of crime and urban decay, often linked to racially charged messages against Black individuals.
Trump has a history of targeting the Obamas with personal and racially charged remarks. This includes spreading false claims about Obama’s birthplace and making derogatory remarks about predominantly Black nations. These posts have ignited anger on platforms like his Truth Social website.
The controversial primate post coincided with the beginning of Black History Month in February. It faced condemnation from civil rights activists and Republican senators, though Trump did not apologize, attributing the post to a staffer.
The timing of this latest post is notable. Trump recently traveled on a newly retrofitted Air Force One, valued at $400 million and gifted by Qatar. He chose a new color scheme for the plane, replacing its iconic light blue with navy-blue and red and gold stripes. After celebrating Independence Day in Washington with a speech, Trump spent Sunday at his Virginia golf club, with plans to travel to Turkey for a NATO summit.
Neither the White House nor representatives for the Obamas provided immediate responses to the situation. Trump’s post followed another altered image of Obama’s presidential library in Chicago, edited to appear surrounded by a wasteland with a bag of garbage on top. Trump expressed his disdain for the library, posting the edited image twice on his platform.
The Air Force One image was part of several posts made by Trump on Sunday on Truth Social. He also shared an image suggesting a fabricated encounter with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, causing diplomatic tension ahead of the upcoming meetings in Turkey. Meloni and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani refuted Trump’s claims, with Tajani canceling a planned trip to Washington.
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