Apparently Donald Trump doesn’t want the public to see reminders of his immediate predecessors when they visit the White House. Portraits of former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and George H.W. Bush have been relocated from prominent public display to the top of a staircase that few people can access, CNN reported.
According to two CNN sources familiar with the matter, Trump ordered staff to put Obama’s portrait at the top of the Grand Staircase that leads to the White House residence, an area only a few White House staff and Secret Service agents can access. One of those sources also said that both Bush portraits now reside in the same staircase.
This counters decades of precedent and White House protocol that historically has placed recent former presidents’ portraits in places of prominence visible to guests and visitors.
This is the second time Trump has relocated Obama’s portrait. The first time, he moved it from one side of the White House Grand Foyer to another. In its place, Trump put a painting of himself raising his fist after the assassination attempt in Butler, Penn.
The moving of the portraits may reflect Trump’s anger with Obama and the Bushes. George W. Bush reportedly commented on Trump’s 2017 inauguration, saying, “That was some weird shit.” He also appeared alongside Obama in a video addressing USAID staffers and thanking them for their work after the Trump administration shut it down. His father, the now deceased George H.W. Bush, called Trump a “blowhard” and said he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Obama has been openly critical of Trump in his first and second terms. In April, Obama called Trump out for his attacks on universities and law firms as well as his withdrawal from a “rules-based system” of alliances and global trade.
In addition to obliterating norms and blowing up international relations, Trump has undertaken several changes in the White House décor since returning to power. He paved over the historic Rose Garden’s grassy lawn with concrete and plans to build a $200 million ballroom that will resemble the style of his Mar-a-Lago resort.
He has transformed the Oval Office, covering it in tacky gold leaf accents to match the president’s gaudy taste. In June, Trump removed a bust of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., from the Oval Office. He also removed a pot of Swedish ivy that had been in the room for 50 years. He tripled how many paintings were displayed on the office’s walls while adding gilded accents, golden eagle statues, and even cherub figurines from Mar-a-Lago, where Trump spends most of his weekends.
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