The former US President Barack Obama’s portrait was removed from a popular spot in the State Floor’s foyer on Friday, replacing it with a brand-new painting of US President Donald Trump, which depicts the serious aftermath of his assassination attempt last summer.
The decision, made without giving any open notice, has once more outlined Trump’s inability to follow long-standing White House customs, according to reports agency AP.
The designer Marc Lipp’s artwork shows the second Trump raised his fist and yelled “fight, fight, fight”! after being shotgun-grazed by a shot at a campaign protest in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024, a word that later became the campaign’s defining phrase.
The message” Some fresh artwork at the White House” and an icon of eyes were displayed on the artwork on X from the White House.
The job was donated by class safety activist Andrew Pollack via the Blue Gallery in Delray Beach, Florida, according to the AP. One of the survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting was Pollack’s child Meadow, and he has since become a well-known advocate for gun safety.
Obama’s painting, which was unveiled at the White House in 2022 at an event hosted by then-US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, has been moved to a different wall where George W. Bush’s portrait was again hung. Near the stairway leading to the presidential residence, it will officially be moved closer to the one of his father, George H. Bush, to the right.
The portraits of the two most recent past presidents are displayed in the White House hall in accordance with custom. Trump is currently in the unique status of being both a current and former president, which complicates the customary spin. He has now served two non-consecutive words. Even so, it is still thought that putting one’s own portrait on top of a predecessor’s is a major departure from process.
Painting unveilings have usually been courteous and bipartisan affairs, according to AP. Bill Clinton was unveiled by George W. Bush, and Barack Obama welcomed him and his family Laura in 2012.
Trump, but, disregarded that custom by refusing to host the Presidency during his first word. The Obamas were greeted back to the White House for their photograph service until Biden took office.
The sudden change comes only one month after Trump criticized a painting of him on display in the state capitol of Colorado, calling it “purposefully contorted.” That image was afterwards taken down in response to his problem.
Over the years, George Washington’s photograph set at the White House has grown. Although some of the earliest works were products, the White House Historical Association, which was founded by Jacqueline Kennedy, has provided the majority of the government’s and second lady’s photos, ever since.
According to Stewart McLaurin, chairman of the organization, some of the portraits are in backup or undergoing restoration.
