Unpacking claim photo shows Obama laughing at meme of himself the day he ordered the killing of bin Laden
In March 2025, a photograph spread online purporting to show former U.S. President Barack Obama laughing at a printout of a meme of himself on the day he ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden founded the terrorist organization al-Qaida and was responsible for plotting the 2001 9/11 attacks in the U.S. During Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, he promised to kill bin Laden.
The claim had been circulating since 2023 on Reddit, where it resurfaced again in March 2025. It also spread across X, Threads and Instagram.
The text of the meme read: "Sorry it took so long to get you a copy of my birth certificate. I was too busy killing Osama bin Laden," referencing longstanding false accusations that Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen.
Obama laughing at a meme of himself the day he ordered the assassination of Osama Bin Laden (2011). by u/bendubberley_ in pics
The photograph is authentic. The Washington Post obtained it in 2023 from the Barack Obama Presidential Library using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Presidential Records Act, which allows access to records beginning five years after the end of a president's administration.
However, it was not taken on the day Obama ordered the killing, which was April 29, 2011 (archived, archived). Instead, it was taken after Navy SEALs executed the raid that killed bin Laden in May 2011 in Pakistan. Due to the difference in U.S. and Pakistani time zones, the photograph could have been taken the day of the killing or the day after. We contacted the Barack Obama Presidential Library and Pete Souza, the former chief White House photographer credited with taking the photograph, to ask for the exact stamp. We will update this story if we get a response.
The Washington Post said it obtained the image by requesting all official White House photographs for the day bin Laden was killed. The Obama Presidential Library responded with a 161-page PDF document of all the images taken between May 1 and May 3, 2011. The photograph of Obama laughing at a printout of the meme can be seen on page 96, under the file name M1X152_7F42_9.
The Barack Obama Presidential Library also published the cache of images on its website. There, it says former National Security Adviser Tom Donilon gave the printout to Obama during the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) on May 2, 2011. The PDB is a daily summary of high-level information on national security issues. Documents in the collection that were prepared by officials of the U.S. government as part of their official duties are in the public domain and available in the National Archives Catalog.
(National Archives Catalog)
The image was also published in a column by the newspaper's FOIA director, Nate Jones, on Oct. 5, 2023. The caption of the photograph says it shows Obama in the Oval Office on May 2, 2011, holding a "printed-out meme that was circulating the day after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) both state bin Laden died on May 2, 2011. The discrepancy between the dates might be explained by the difference between Pakistani and U.S. time zones.
Reputable news outlets reported that Navy SEALs executed the raid that killed bin Laden around 1 a.m. local time on May 2 in Pakistan, and his death was confirmed around 3.50 p.m to 4.05 p.m. on May 1 in Washington, D.C., depending on reports. NPR also recorded that Obama confirmed bin Laden's death to the U.S. people at 11:35 p.m. on May 1. Therefore, the photograph of Obama laughing at the meme — taken in Washington on May 2 — could be considered "the day of" the killing in Pakistan time, but the "day after" in U.S. time.
A Google search for the meme text, showing results from between May 1 and 3, 2011, revealed a colorized version of the meme that was circulating and handed to Obama. The meme was shared in an X post from May 2, 2011, and visible via the included Twitpic link.
(X user @talverio)
Barack Obama Presidential Library. "Photographs of May 1-3, 2011 [Bin Laden] (22-16724-F) | Barack Obama Presidential Library." Obamalibrary.gov, www.obamalibrary.gov/digital-research-room/finding-aids/22-16724-f?page=228. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
CNN Editorial Research. "Death of Osama Bin Laden Fast Facts." CNN, 9 Sept. 2013, edition.cnn.com/2013/09/09/world/death-of-osama-bin-laden-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Osama Bin Laden." Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/osama-bin-laden. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Jones, Nate. "I Find Documents Officials Want to Keep Hidden. Here's How." The Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/10/05/foia-obama-bin-laden-birther-meme/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
---. "Newly Released White House Photos Capture the Day Bin Laden Was Killed." The Washington Post, 28 Apr. 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/04/28/obama-foia-bin-laden-raid/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Miller, Greg. "CIA Spied on Bin Laden from Safe House." The Washington Post, 6 May 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/world/cia-spied-on-bin-laden-from-safe-house/2011/05/05/AFXbG31F_story.html. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
National Archives Catalog. President Barack Obama Receives the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office., 2 May 2011, www.obamalibrary.gov/digital-research-room/finding-aids/22-16724-f?page=228. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "What Is the PDB?" Www.intelligence.gov, www.intelligence.gov/publics-daily-brief/presidents-daily-brief. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
"Photo Mechanic." The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/documents/a038d028-f795-4884-88e5-022697cf8b39.pdf. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
The New York Times. "Second Presidential Debate - McCain and Obama - Transcript - Election Guide 2008 - the New York Times - Election Guide 2008 - the New York Times." Archive.nytimes.com, 7 Oct. 2008, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/president/debates/transcripts/second-presidential-debate.html. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
The Obama White House. "President Obama on Death of Osama Bin Laden." YouTube, 1 May 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYmK19-d0U. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
Van Woerkom, Barbara. "NPR Choice Page." Npr.org, 3 May 2011, www.npr.org/2011/05/03/135951504/timeline-the-raid-on-osama-bin-ladens-hideout. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
Vergun, David. "AI Gleaned Information about Emerging Threats, Future Plots from Bin Laden Raid." U.S. Department of Defense, 26 June 2020, www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2234142/ai-gleaned-information-about-emerging-threats-future-plots-from-bin-laden-raid/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
X user @talverio. X (Formerly Twitter), 2 May 2011, x.com/talverio/status/64986012908142593. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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