President Trump Shares AI-Generated Video Depicting Obama's Arrest, Sparking Controversy

Trump Posts Fake Video Showing Obama Arrest

President Trump shared what appeared to be an A.I.-generated video of former President Barack Obama being detained in the Oval Office. President Trump reposted a fake video showing former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office, as Trump administration officials continue to accuse Mr. Obama of trying to harm Mr. Trump's campaign during the 2016 election, and the president seeks to redirect conversation from the Epstein files. The short video, which appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence and posted on TikTok before being reposted on Mr. Trump's Truth Social account on Sunday, comes days after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued the latest in a series of reports from the Trump administration trying to undermine the eight-year-old assessment that Russia favored the election of Mr. Trump. The video appears to be manipulated footage of an Oval Office meeting that took place in November 2016 between Mr. Obama, then the president, and Mr. Trump, who days earlier had defeated Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, in the election. The fake video purports to show F.B.I. agents bursting into the meeting, pushing Mr. Obama into a kneeling position and putting him in handcuffs as Mr. Trump looks on smiling, while the song "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People plays. Later, the fake video shows Mr. Obama in an orange jumpsuit pacing in a cell. The start of the video shows a compilation of actual footage of Democratic leaders, including Mr. Obama and former President Joseph R. Biden Jr, saying, "no one is above the law." Mr. Obama's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the video. Mr. Trump regularly reposts A.I.-generated or mocked-up videos and photographs on his Truth Social account. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said last week that the latest report released by her offices showed a "treasonous conspiracy in 2016" by top Obama administration officials to harm Mr. Trump. She said she would make a criminal referral to the F.B.I. based on recently released documents. A link to real video footage from an interview that Ms. Gabbard gave to Fox News on Sunday on the subject was also posted to Mr. Trump's social media. Democrats have denounced the administration's effort to discredit Mr. Obama as politically motivated and riddled with errors, and contradicting previous reviews of the assessment. The latest document, issued last week, did not show Russian manipulation of the election, and instead reinforced the view of intelligence officials who found no evidence that Russia hacked voting systems to change votes. Democrats have cited reports by intelligence agencies and Senate investigators who found that, while Russian hackers probed election systems to see if they could change vote outcomes and extracted voter registration data in at least two states, there was no evidence that they attempted to change votes. The Obama administration's assessment also did not say that Russian hackers manipulated votes. Mr. Trump has been trying to change the conversation among his supporters, after the Justice Department walked back its promise to release the full collection of files about Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019. That decision angered some of the president's most ardent supporters. Some have questioned Mr. Trump's judgment on the matter, causing strife within the MAGA movement that powered Mr. Trump to two presidential election victories.

Trump Shares AI Video of Obama Getting Arrested

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has shared an AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office by FBI agents. The President's fondness for posting AI-generated content is well-documented, but posting hyper-realistic videos without a synthetic label led to some critics calling his actions "deeply irresponsible." The video, posted last night on Truth Social, starts with a series of clips showing high-profile Democrats all saying, "No one is above the law." It then briefly switches to Pepe the Frog before cutting to an AI video clip of Trump and Obama sitting in the Oval Office. It appears to have been taken from a TikTok user who goes by neo8171. Although the clip is a video, it was generated using a real photo as a prompt, namely the one below taken on November 10, 2016, by Getty Images photographer Win McNamee. The video's creator would have used text prompts to bring the photo to life; in this case, FBI agents appearing and strongarming Obama into handcuffs as Trump smiles gleefully. The disturbing video then cuts to Obama wearing a jumpsuit while holed up in a jail cell -- the entire time YMCA by the Village People is playing. Trump posted the video following Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's calls on Friday for Obama and former senior US national security officials to be prosecuted for "treasonous conspiracy" relating to claims that a Democrat cabal fanned the flames of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Gabbard claims that Obama "manufactured intelligence" that suggested Russia influenced the election, following Trump's win over Hillary Clinton. "Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people," Gabbard said. However, critics argue that Trump is trying to get the Russia investigation back into the spotlight as the Jeffrey Epstein case threatens to derail his presidency.

President Trump posts fake AI video of President Obama getting arrested

The president of the United States is gleefully posting AI slop on the internet, imagining a world where one of his predecessors is imprisoned. President Donald Trump posted the video on his website Truth Social. In the AI-generated video, Trump is sitting with former President Barack Obama at the White House -- a scene reminiscent of their real, awkward meetings -- before agents come in and abduct Obama. The AI-generated Trump smiles as Obama is hauled off to prison, shown behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. While behavior like this from a sitting president may have once been shocking, it's not surprising that Trump would latch onto AI-generated attacks toward Obama. He's posted frequently about his predecessor since Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed there was evidence that the Obama administration promoted the idea that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. The timing of the Truth Social post and the claims from Gabbard are interesting, considering liberals and many MAGA diehards alike strongly criticized Trump for keeping Jeffrey Epstein's files under wraps. The president was even ratioed on Truth Social over his comments on Epstein, which feels nearly impossible. The handling of Epstein's files -- and Trump's long-documented friendship with the deceased financier famously charged with sex trafficking of minors -- have become a real problem for the president. So now, a few days later, we have Trump gleefully imagining Obama's arrest. When in doubt, it feels like a safe tactic for the president.

Trump posts fake video showing Obama arrest

President Donald Trump reposted a fake video showing former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office, as Trump administration officials continue to accuse Obama of trying to harm Trump's campaign during the 2016 election, and the president seeks to redirect conversation from the Jeffrey Epstein files. The short video, which appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence and posted on TikTok before being reposted on Trump's Truth Social account on Sunday, comes days after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued the latest in a series of reports from the Trump administration trying to undermine the 8-year-old assessment that Russia favored the election of Trump. The video appears to be manipulated footage of an Oval Office meeting that took place in November 2016 between Obama, then the president, and Trump, who days earlier had defeated Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, in the election. The fake video purports to show FBI agents bursting into the meeting, pushing Obama into a kneeling position and putting him in handcuffs as Trump looks on smiling, while the song "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People plays. Later, the fake video shows Obama in an orange jumpsuit pacing in a cell. The start of the video shows a compilation of actual footage of Democratic leaders, including Obama and former President Joe Biden, saying, "no one is above the law." Obama's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the video. Trump regularly reposts AI-generated or mocked-up videos and photographs on his Truth Social account. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said last week that the latest report released by her offices showed a "treasonous conspiracy in 2016" by top Obama administration officials to harm Trump. She said she would make a criminal referral to the FBI based on recently released documents. A link to real video footage from an interview that Gabbard gave to Fox News on Sunday on the subject was also posted to Trump's social media. Democrats have denounced the administration's effort to discredit Obama as politically motivated and riddled with errors, and contradicting previous reviews of the assessment. The latest document, issued last week, did not show Russian manipulation of the election, and instead reinforced the view of intelligence officials who found no evidence that Russia hacked voting systems to change votes. Democrats have cited reports by intelligence agencies and Senate investigators who found that, while Russian hackers probed election systems to see if they could change vote outcomes and extracted voter registration data in at least two states, there was no evidence that they attempted to change votes. The Obama administration's assessment also did not say that Russian hackers manipulated votes. Trump has been trying to change the conversation among his supporters, after the Justice Department walked back its promise to release the full collection of files about Epstein, a multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019. That decision angered some of the president's most ardent supporters. Some have questioned Trump's judgment on the matter, causing strife within the MAGA movement that powered Trump to two presidential election victories.

Trump posts fake video of Obama getting arrested

President Trump posted a fake video to Truth Social on Monday showing former President Obama being arrested in the Oval Office with the song "Y.M.C.A." playing in the background. The video of Obama, which seemed to originate from TikTok before being reposted by the president, appears to be generated by artificial intelligence (AI). It was preceded by a 30-second compilation of real clips from Democratic officials saying the phrase, "No one is above the law." In the video, Trump is seen sitting across from his first-term predecessor, grinning as Obama is led away by FBI agents. The Village People song "Y.M.C.A." is often played at Trump's campaign rallies. Obama's office did not respond to a request for comment. The video follows allegations from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Obama officials "manufactured intelligence" that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Gabbard said last week in a memo that she was turning over evidence to the Justice Department for possible criminal referrals. Democrats have panned Gabbard's assessment as politically motivated. Trump's video repost comes as the president has attempted to redirect focus from controversy around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a debate that has roiled conspiracy theorists and split his base. The president often reposts AI-generated or manipulated videos to his Truth Social account. His recent post about Obama appears to draw on a meeting the two men had in the Oval Office in November 2016, The New York Times reported. During his first campaign, Trump famously led calls to jail Hillary Clinton with the chant "lock her up." The refrain was thought at the time to be an unusually strident attack on an opponent.

Trump posts fake AI-video showing Obama being arrested with 'YMCA' and meme turned hate symbol

President Trump has pushed for more disclosure around Epstein's case after many have demanded the release of a so-called "client list." * President Donald Trump shared a fabricated video of former President Barack Obama's arrest on Truth Social. * The video appeared after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed the Obama administration manipulated intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 election. * A Senate Intelligence Committee report backed the findings of the intelligence agencies that found Russia interfered to support Trump in the 2016 election. President Donald Trump reposted a video on Truth Social that showed a fake, artificially rendered scene of former President Barack Obama being arrested. The July 20 post on social was a TikTok video by an account named "neo8171," with a montage of Democratic elected officials saying "no one is above the law." While it is unclear where the clips were from, Democrats have used that phrase when talking about Trump's criminal cases, including an arrest in Georgia and a felony conviction in New York. The video then shows Pepe the Frog, a popular internet meme that was added to a hate symbol database during the 2016 election. As "YMCA" starts to play, the video shows Trump and Obama sitting in the Oval Office, and an artificially rendered scene shows FBI agents dragging Obama out of his chair and cuffing his hands behind his back. The fake video then shows Obama in an orange jumpsuit in jail. A representative for Obama declined to comment about the fake AI video. #ArrestObama trends on Truth Social after Tulsi Gabbard claims On July 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a press release saying she had evidence that the Obama administration after the 2016 election produced "politicized intelligence that was used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump's victory." In 2020, a Republican-led, bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee backed the conclusion of the intelligence agencies that found Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump. Trump had long said the investigation into his campaign was a hoax. Ranking Member on the Intelligence Committee Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, said Gabbard's new claim is a "dangerous lie," while speaking on CBS News' "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," on July 20. He said Gabbard is using a "sleight of hand" by focusing on intelligence about Russia's failed voting infrastructure manipulation rather than Russia's meddling to discredit Trump's 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Appearing on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Gabbard said she intended to send her findings to the Department of Justice and the FBI for criminal referral. Trump also shared excerpts from Gabbard's interviews to Truth Social. "As is always the case, President Trump was right about the Obama-Biden administration's clear involvement in the greatest witch hunt in American history and the genesis of the decade-long hoax saga that tore our nation apart and undermined the will of the people," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an emailed statement. "The President and his entire administration are committed to unearthing wrongdoing and holding any individual accountable for this gross abuse of power and blatant conspiracy against President Trump and his supporters." Pepe the Frog became political, then hate symbol, during 2016 election The frog doodle in clown accessories that flashes in the video is known as Pepe the Frog, and its appearance in Trump's social media posts has sparked interest before. Pepe the Frog started as a character from a comic series, "Boy's Club" by Matt Furie in 2005, according to Know Your Meme. While the somewhat sad-looking frog did not have racist or antisemitic origins, its proliferation through the internet as a meme led to its adaptation into something of a symbol for single men who felt they were on the social outskirts, Know Your Meme editor Brad Kim told the New York Times in 2016. But Kim said it became political when Trump shared a Trump-ified version of Pepe in October 2015. "Pepe plugged into the ideology of the alt-right because it was a reaction against the people they call 'normies,'" Kim told the New York Times. "Pepe had been a symbol of the disenfranchised, social outcasts. It was Trump's natural audience." In 2016, the Anti-Defamation League added Pepe the Frog to its list of hate symbols, though the organization notes many uses of this meme are still not rooted in bigotry or hate. "The number of 'alt right' Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election," Pepe's ADL page states. "However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context." Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Kristine Phillips, USA TODAY Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.