WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump hosted a Black History Month reception Wednesday as he sought to court Black voters while highlighting Black Americans’ contributions to the country. He avoided mentioning a racist video shared from his social media account earlier this month and instead leaned on allies and policy claims to push back on renewed accusations of racism, Feb. 18, 2026.
Trump courts Black voters as fallout lingers
The reception came less than two weeks after Trump sparked bipartisan condemnation for posting a video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as primates. Trump later deleted the post and said he would not apologize, arguing he did not see the offensive portion and blaming a staffer for uploading it.
The White House initially defended the post before deleting it, and Trump later said no one was disciplined, Reuters reported.
At the time, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” according to Reuters’ account of the event. Reuters described the invite-only crowd as about 100 guests and said the celebration was framed as a 100-year milestone for Black History Month.
In the East Room, Trump did not mention the Obamas. “We celebrate Black History Month. We honor the memory of those who came before us by continuing their legacy,” he said, according to an Associated Press report.
Trump praised prominent Black supporters in entertainment and sports, including boxer Mike Tyson, and made a point of name-checking rapper Nicki Minaj — at one point calling her skin “so beautiful,” the AP reported.
He also elevated Black members of his administration and allies. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and former HUD secretary Dr. Ben Carson appeared, and Trump said Carson would soon receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Reuters reported.
White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson told the crowd that “this president hears you” and “cares for you,” urging attendees not to accept claims that Trump “is not for Black America,” the AP reported. Trump said of Johnson, “When I met her, I fell in love,” Reuters reported.
The reception also came a day after Trump posted a message meant to pay tribute to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday, and complained again about being labeled racist, the AP reported.
One of the most emotional moments came when Trump invited Forlesia Cook, a Washington-area grandmother whose grandson was killed in 2017, to the podium. Cook offered a blunt defense of the president, telling critics to “get off the man’s back,” Reuters reported.
Trump’s pitch to Black voters: public safety, tips, and a “Black History Century”
Trump argued that his policies have delivered for Black voters, pointing to the law he signed last year eliminating federal income taxes on tips and his decision to deploy National Guard troops “to bring back safety” in cities with large Black populations, including Washington, New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, according to the AP.
He also touted criminal justice changes from his first term, promised “a century more” of success for African Americans and said his coalition is expanding. “It’s no wonder that in 2024 we won more African American voters than any Republican presidential candidate in history,” Trump said at the reception, according to Reuters.
Trump ended the event by stretching the celebration beyond a single month. “So happy Black History Month, happy Black History Year, and happy Black History Century,” he said, Reuters reported.
The White House has also leaned on symbolism. In his Black History Month proclamation, Trump wrote that “black history” is “not distinct from American history,” while also criticizing what he described as efforts to divide Americans by race.
Critics point to DEI rollbacks and disputes over Black history
Trump’s celebratory tone has collided with a broader political fight over how race is discussed in government and schools. The AP reported that Trump has pushed to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government and pressured the private sector to do the same, calling DEI “discrimination.”
At the same time, the administration has promoted initiatives it says benefit Black voters, including a one-time $500 million boost for historically Black colleges and universities that the White House highlighted last year, the AP reported. The funding, the AP said, largely came from federal money redirected away from programs serving colleges with large shares of Hispanic students.
And the AP reported that the administration has used an executive order aimed at “restoring truth and sanity to American history” to remove or revise historical information in national parks, including some Black history markers — part of a push the administration says is meant to prevent “inappropriate” disparagement of Americans.
What the numbers show about Black voters
Trump’s outreach comes amid evidence that his support among Black voters rose in 2024 even as the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, still won the group overwhelmingly. A Pew Research Center analysis of validated voters found 83% of Black voters backed Harris in 2024 while 15% favored Trump, up from 8% in 2020 and 6% in 2016.
AP VoteCast also found Trump made “slight inroads” with Black voters, and reported that the movement was driven largely by younger men. In AP VoteCast’s post-election breakdown, the survey found about 8 in 10 Black voters supported Harris, down from about 9 in 10 who backed President Joe Biden four years earlier, and about 3 in 10 Black men under 45 voted for Trump.
Those shifts are small in percentage terms, but they help explain why Trump and his advisers continue to court Black voters in high-visibility settings — even when controversies over race threaten to eclipse the message.
A long-running outreach to Black voters — and recurring backlash
Trump’s attempt to broaden his appeal to Black voters is not new. During the 2016 campaign, Democrat Hillary Clinton’s team ran an ad attacking Trump’s outreach and highlighting his “What do you have to lose?” pitch, as described in a 2016 Reuters report.
In 2020, Trump’s reelection campaign again put Black voters at the center of a promise-heavy push, including a pledge to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, according to a Reuters report from September 2020.
And during the 2024 primary season, the Biden White House condemned Trump comments linking his criminal indictments to the discrimination faced by Black Americans — calling the remarks “repugnant and divisive” — in a Reuters report from February 2024.
Wednesday’s reception underscored how those two lines of Trump’s politics — efforts to win over Black voters and disputes over racially charged rhetoric — continue to run side by side. For supporters in the room, the point was to focus on policies and personal relationships. For critics, the post involving the Obamas was another reminder that arguments over race and American history remain politically volatile, even during Black History Month.
