Trump sparks controversy with doctored image of Obamas and vandalised Air Force One

Washington: US President Donald Trump shared a doctored image on Sunday featuring former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama appearing to wave while boarding an Air Force One jet defaced with graffiti.

The incident follows a previous post earlier this year depicting the couple as primates, which was removed following significant bipartisan condemnation.

The latest image displays the Obamas atop the aircraft stairs, accompanied by a light blue and white presidential plane featuring graffiti that includes the Democrat campaign slogan "Yes We Can," the word "Obama," and "BLM," representing Black Lives Matter. Additionally, the graffiti includes the Arabic phrase "alhamdulillah," which translates to "praise be to God."

The imagery of urban graffiti is frequently utilised as a coded reference to crime and societal decline, a trope historically employed in racist messaging targeting Black individuals.

Trump possesses a long-standing record of personal attacks against the Obamas and the use of inflammatory, often racially charged rhetoric. This history ranges from promoting the unfounded conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the United States to derogatory generalisations regarding predominantly Black nations.

Regarding the primate imagery posted in February—which coincided with the first week of Black History Month—Trump declined to offer an apology, with the blame later shifted to a staff member.

The choice of the presidential aircraft as a subject for the doctored image is particularly sensitive, as Trump conducted his first flight last week on a new $400 million Boeing 747-800 gifted by Qatar. The traditional light blue exterior has been replaced with a scheme featuring a navy-blue belly accented by red and gold stripes.

Following his address on the National Mall on Saturday to commemorate Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Trump held no public engagements on Sunday, spending the day at his golf club in Virginia. He is scheduled to depart for Turkey on Monday for a summit with NATO allies.

Neither the White House nor representatives for the Obamas provided an immediate response to requests for comment.

Sunday’s post follows a similar incident last month, in which Trump shared an edited image of the future Obama Presidential Library in Chicago, depicting the site as a wasteland topped with a large bag of refuse. "The Obama Library ten years from now will be a 'Mecca' for those who hate America! President DJT," he stated at the time.

The Air Force One post was part of a series shared on his Truth Social platform, which also included an image of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni gazing at Trump under the caption "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED."

This posting may complicate the upcoming diplomatic meetings in Turkey, particularly after Trump claimed that Meloni had "over and over" requested a photograph with him during the recent G7 summit. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani cancelled a planned visit to Washington in response to the remarks, and Meloni dismissed Trump’s version of events as "completely fabricated," adding that "Italy and I never beg."

With inputs from AP