US President Trump has declined to apologise after his account shared a racist social media post featuring the Obamas. 

Trump's Thursday night post featured Barack and Michelle as primates in a jungle. The video was deleted on Friday and later in the day the US President said: “I didn’t make a mistake."

Following the removal of the post, a staffer was blamed for posting it, sparking further controversy about who has control of Trump's socials. The video received widespread backlash from Veteran Republican senators and civil rights leaders for its treatment of the nation's first black president and first lady.

Before the video was taken down press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed “fake outrage” over the post. After several calls for its removal the White House said that is was posted by a staffer in error.

The post was part of overnight activity on Trump's Truth Social account that amplified his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite it being found by that there was no evidence of systemic fraud.

A spokeswoman for the former president said that Obama had no response.The video was posted in the first week of Black History Month, just days after the US President cited “the contributions of black Americans to our national greatness” and “the American principles of liberty, justice, and equality”.

The Obamas' smiling faces were imposed on two jungle primates 60 seconds in to the 62-second clip. The rest of the video appears to be from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states in the 2020 election.

The shot of the Obamas came from a separate video, previously circulated by an influential conservative meme maker. This shows Trump as "King of the Jungle" and depicts Democratic leaders as animals, including Joe Biden as a primate eating a banana.

“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King,” Ms Leavitt said by text. Disney’s 1994 feature film that Leavitt referenced is set on the savannah, not in the jungle, and it does not include great apes.

“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” Ms Leavitt added.

The post was taken down by noon, with a staffer being held responsible.

Trump told reporters as he boarded Air Force One on Friday night that the video was about fraudulent elections. “I liked the beginning. I saw it and just passed it on, and I guess probably nobody reviewed the end of it,” he said.

Asked if he condemned the racist parts of the video, Mr Trump said: “Of course I do.”

After the White House said the post was not made by Trump himself further concern has grown about who controls the president's social media account. This is because it is used to levy import taxes, threaten military action, make other announcements and intimidate political rivals.

The president often signs his name or initials after policy posts.

The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how posts are vetted and when the public can know when Mr Trump himself is posting.