Yes. Donald Trump Really Posted a Deep-Fake of Barack Obama in Handcuffs

(And that was only the first plot twist.)

Quick answer up-front: On Sunday, Donald Trump did repost a TikTok deep-fake that shows Barack Obama being arrested by FBI agents in the Oval Office and later glaring from behind jail bars. The video is fake; the outrage that followed is very real. Keep reading to see how a 30-second AI clip collided with a brand-new Director of National Intelligence, fresh “treason” accusations, and a political tug-of-war over what is—or isn’t—true.

1. A Make-Believe Arrest, a Very Real Post

What happened, exactly?

Trump tapped “re-truth” on a TikTok deep-fake and blasted it to his 7-million-plus followers on Truth Social.
The clip opens with President Biden and other Democrats repeating, “No one is above the law.”
A clown-nosed Pepe-the-Frog honks for comic effect.
Cut to: AI-generated Obama, startled, as FBI agents click on handcuffs. Seconds later he’s in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Trump stands to the side—smiling—before the words “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW” fill the screen.

Multiple outlets, including The Daily Beast³, captured the post before it could disappear.

Bottom line: The video is fiction, but the repost is fact.

A pro-MAGA TikTok account uploaded the deep-fake Saturday night.
Meme pages on X and Telegram copied it within hours.
Trump reshared it Sunday morning—no caption, no disclaimer.
“MAKE THIS A REALITY,” conservative influencer Nick Sortor tweeted, while liberal users called the clip “propaganda on steroids.”

The clip spread fast. Exact view counts on Truth Social are private, but screenshots flooded X, Threads, and Facebook by mid-afternoon.

3. Enter Tulsi Gabbard: The Spy Chief’s Bombshell

While the internet chewed on the video, Tulsi Gabbard—recently sworn in as Director of National Intelligence—dropped a stack of 100-plus documents she claims are “overwhelming proof” that Obama-era officials fabricated the 2016 Trump-Russia collusion story.

On Friday, the ODNI press shop posted the files.
Sunday on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Gabbard called it a “treasonous conspiracy…directed by President Obama.”
She said the papers are now with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel for “possible criminal referral.”

Source links: ODNI release (dni.gov), Fox interview transcript (RealClearPolitics).

4. The Missing Piece the Viral Story Overlooked

The original article said “Obama’s former team has not responded.”
That’s wrong:

Senate Intel Vice-Chair Mark Warner dismissed Gabbard’s claims as “utter nonsense.” (Daily Beast)
Former CIA Director John Brennan called the document dump “selective cherry-picking” in a statement to NBC.
The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee (2017-2020) had already concluded—unanimously—that Russia interfered to help Trump, contradicting Gabbard’s premise. (Committee Report PDF)

5. Verified vs. Unverified: A Quick Scorecard

✓ Verified
• Trump posted the deep-fake.
• Video begins with Democrats saying “No one is above the law,” plus honking Pepe meme.
• Gabbard is indeed the DNI and made the quoted accusations.

✱ Needs context / still digging
• Social-media quotes from users “RepublicansAgainstTrump” and “Publius.” No public archives confirm those exact posts yet.

✗ Incorrect or missing
• Claim that “Democrats haven’t responded” — several have, loudly.
• Implication that the new documents debunk previous Russia findings — experts say they don’t.

6. Why This Matters Beyond the Meme

Deep-fake normalization: A former president blasting out a fictional arrest of another ex-president sets a new bar for political trolling.
Weaponized intelligence: Gabbard’s allegations carry the weight of the entire U.S. intel community—unless they collapse under scrutiny.
Erosion of consensus reality: Viral AI videos + selective document dumps = citizens picking the “facts” they prefer.

7. What We Still Don’t Know

Will DOJ or FBI actually pursue Obama based on Gabbard’s files?
Do the newly released documents hold smoking-gun evidence or just out-of-context drafts? Independent analysts haven’t seen the unredacted versions.
How will social-media platforms handle future deep-fakes starring high-profile political figures?

8. The Take-Away

The fake Obama arrest video now sits at the center of a very real political knife fight. Trump’s re-post gave the meme oxygen; DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s explosive claims poured gasoline on the same narrative. Meanwhile, bipartisan investigations from years past insist Russia’s election meddling wasn’t invented at all.

As always, the next viral clip will arrive faster than the next verified fact. Don’t blink—and don’t forget to check the source.

Unpacking the Viral AI Video of Obamas Arrest