Obama on knees, handcuffed, in jail: Trump posts AI video of Obama after Tulsi Gabbard’s claims of 'treasonous plot'

US President Donald Trump on Sunday posted an AI-generated video showing former President Barack Obama being arrested inside the Oval Office. The clip, widely circulated after being reshared from TikTok, was uploaded to Trump’s Truth Social platform without any comment.

The 45-second video opens with real footage of Obama stating, “especially the President is above the law.” Other high-profile Democrats, including Joe Biden, are then shown saying, “no one is above the law.”



Then the scene shifts. A clown version of the meme Pepe the Frog honks its nose before the video cuts to a fabricated meeting between Trump and Obama in the Oval Office. FBI agents enter and arrest Obama, who is later seen in a jail cell wearing an orange jumpsuit. The arrest sequence plays to the tune of “YMCA” by the Village People, a song Trump often uses at rallies.

Deepfake or distraction?

The clip has divided viewers. Trump supporters on Truth Social were quick to celebrate it. Nick Sortor, a right-wing commentator, wrote on X, “MAKE THIS A REALITY,” tagging former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Critics, on the other hand, called it misleading and inflammatory. Some even suggested the timing wasn’t a coincidence.

The Gabbard factor

The video appeared just after Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic Congresswoman and now Trump ally, made fresh allegations against the Obama administration.

Speaking to Fox News, Gabbard said, “The implications of this are frankly nothing short of historic.”

She added, “Over 100 documents that we released on Friday really detail and provide evidence of how this treasonous conspiracy was directed by President Obama just weeks before he was due to leave office after President Trump had already gotten elected.”

Gabbard claims that the Obama administration politicised intelligence to fuel the narrative that Russia helped elect Trump. She stated the documents would be referred to the FBI and Department of Justice for possible criminal action.

According to Gabbard, “Creating this piece of manufactured intelligence that claims that Russia had helped Donald Trump get elected contradicted every other assessment that had been made previously in the months leading up to the election that said exactly the opposite, that Russia had neither the intent nor the capability to try to ‘hack the United States election’.”

She further argued, “So the effect of what President Obama and his senior national security team did was subvert the will of the American people, undermining our democratic republic and enacting what would be essentially a years-long coup against President Trump, who was duly elected by the American people.”

Democrats have dismissed Gabbard’s claims as inaccurate and politically charged. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, a leading Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, responded by saying, “It was one more example of the director of national intelligence trying to cook the books.”

Meanwhile, some Trump supporters themselves questioned the timing, especially as the Trump administration faces continued scrutiny over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Critics argue the AI video and Gabbard’s claims are being used to steer attention elsewhere.

This is not the first time Trump has posted inflammatory material about his political opponents. On the same night, he also suggested jailing Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and shared digitally edited mugshots of former Obama-era officials like James Comey, Samantha Power, and Susan Rice, all shown in orange prison attire.

The broader context is hard to ignore. In May 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. It marked the first time a former US president was found guilty of felony crimes. He is currently appealing the verdict.

A Supreme Court ruling in 2023 complicated things further. It held that presidents have immunity for official actions while in office, potentially shielding Trump — and past presidents — from prosecution for their conduct in the Oval Office.