"A White House staffer mistakenly posted it. It has been removed," a White House official told AFP.
The announcement comes after Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, previously defended the video and called the outrage over it "fake."
The video that Trump shared on the social media platform Truth Social reiterates the long-debunked conspiracy theory that the 2020 US election was rigged, which Joe Biden won. At the end of the AI video, former President Obama and his wife, depicted as monkeys, appear. “The lion sleeps tonight” plays in the background.
Several leading Democratic politicians have criticized the post.
"Disgusting behavior by the president," California Governor Gavin Newsom commented on X.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, called Trump "disgusting, unbridled and malicious" in a statement.
“Every Republican must immediately condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry,” he said.
Republican Senator Tim Scott, among others, was also clear in his criticism.
"Praying that it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen from the White House. The President should take it down," he wrote on X.
The post was published around 4:45 a.m. local time in Sweden on Friday. About twelve hours later, it was removed.
The Obamas have not commented.
