Donald Trump Shares Altered Air Force One Picture Defacing Obamas Jet With BLM Graffiti and Arabic Script

A White House social media post featuring a heavily altered image of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama aboard Air Force One has triggered global backlash, with critics alleging racial undertones.

The controversy has rapidly escalated, threatening to overshadow upcoming international diplomatic summits.

Trump Shares Altered Air Force One Image

Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy on Sunday by sharing a fake photo of Barack and Michelle Obama on Truth Social. In the altered image, the former president and his wife are seen waving before boarding Air Force One, which has been covered in graffiti.

The upload comes just months after Trump shared another post comparing the couple to apes in a jungle, which was later removed following intense backlash from both political parties.

In the fabricated image, the Obamas are shown smiling and waving from the top of the aircraft steps beside the iconic blue-and-white presidential jet. The fake graffiti includes the Democratic campaign slogan 'Yes We Can', along with 'Obama' and the Black Lives Matter acronym 'BLM'. The image also features Arabic script spelling out 'alhamdulillah', a phrase translating to 'praise be to God' or 'thank God'.

Trump's History of Controversial Posts

Historically, graffiti has been used in racially motivated messaging against Black communities to subtly imply associations with crime and inner-city decline. For years, Trump has directed deeply personal insults at the Obamas alongside highly inflammatory and, at times, prejudiced language.

His past actions include promoting the debunked theory that Obama was born outside the United States, using harsh stereotypes to describe nations with majority-Black populations and posting controversial material on Truth Social that sparked widespread public outrage.

The previous upload comparing the Obamas to apes appeared online in February to coincide with the start of Black History Month. Following a swift wave of condemnation from civil rights advocates and fellow Republican politicians, the image was removed. Trump did not issue an apology, with an aide later taking responsibility for publishing the post.

Air Force One in the Spotlight

The controversial image was published at a time when the presidential aircraft itself was a highly sensitive topic. Just last week, Trump completed his inaugural journey aboard a new Air Force One, a customised Boeing 747-800 valued at $400 million and donated by Qatar.

The traditional light blue exterior, originally designed to help the aircraft blend into the sky, was replaced with Trump's preferred design featuring a dark navy underside accented with red and gold stripes.

Diplomatic Fallout Before NATO Summit

Following a Saturday evening address on the National Mall in Washington to mark Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Trump scheduled no public appearances for Sunday, opting instead to visit his Virginia golf resort. He is set to depart on Monday for Turkey, where he will attend a summit with fellow NATO leaders.

The Air Force One graphic was just one of several posts Trump shared on Sunday. He also re-posted an old photo of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni captioned 'RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED.'

The move risks escalating diplomatic tensions ahead of the Turkey summit, following Trump's recent claims that Meloni asked 'over and over' and begged for a photograph. The dispute has already prompted Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to cancel a planned trip to Washington, with Meloni calling Trump's account 'completely fabricated' and declaring: 'Italy and I never beg.'