In July 2025, as U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused officials under former President Barack Obama of "manufacturing intelligence" in a 2016 probe into Russian interference in the presidential election that resulted in President Donald Trump's first term, a rumor spread that Trump had posted a video of Obama getting arrested in the White House Oval Office. The video, internet users said, had been generated by artificial intelligence.
For example, left-leaning YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen posted a screen capture of Trump's alleged post on Facebook with the caption "BREAKING: TRUMP POSTS AI-GENERATED VIDEO OF PRESIDENT OBAMA BEING ARRESTED
(Facebook user Brian Tyler Cohen)
As of this writing, the post had amassed more than 28,000 reactions and 14,000 comments. Some users suggested this was Trump's way of distracting from criticism of his administration's refusal to make public additional files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "Didn't he tell yall to stop talking about the files and focus on something else?" one asked.
Similar posts appeared on Facebook, as well as Reddit and Instagram. Snopes readers also searched the site to confirm the veracity of this rumor.
The claim was true. Trump posted this video on Truth Social (archived) on July 20, 2025, two days after Gabbard said she would turn "over all documents" related to her findings about the Obama administration's supposed manufacturing of evidence about Russian interference "to the DOJ for criminal referral" (archived).
(Truth Social user @realDonaldTrump)
Trump did not create the video himself. A used first posted it to TikTok, where it received more than 420,000 views before been removed from public view (archived).
(TikTok user @neo8171)
The video opened with clips of several prominent Democrats, including Obama, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and former President Joe Biden, saying variations of "No one is above the law." Then, 44 seconds into the video, an AI-generated clip showed Trump and Obama sitting side by side in the Oval Office and three men wearing FBI jackets and sunglasses grabbing Obama and dragging him to the floor. The video then cut to another AI-generated clip of Obama wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and sitting, standing or pacing, apparently in a jail environment.
Several clues revealed the clips were AI-generated. For example, the features of the FBI agents were smooth, their jackets did not seem real and the gestures unnatural, as was Obama's expression. Trump's frozen smile added to the sense of unreality, as did the poor resolution of the clip. The ensuing clips placed Obama inside or outside of cells, with no apparent logic. The last shot, which zoomed in on Obama's face behind bars, made him look drawn or painted.
In addition, no reputable news outlet had reported that Obama had been arrested, as searches on Google, Google News, DuckDuckGo and Bing revealed.
Snopes reached out to the White House asking about the message Trump intended to send by posting this video, and whether it was meant as a threat to Obama.
In an emailed statement, Harrison Fields, the White House deputy press secretary, said that "President Trump was right about the Obama-Biden administration's clear involvement in the greatest witch hunt in American history. … 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."