The world’s most petty commander in chief is once again marking his territory—this time by banning the official portraits of his predecessors from the White House entryway.
According to CNN, President Donald Trump recently ordered the relocation of portraits of former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and George H.W. Bush. Obama’s photorealistic Robert McCurdy painting now hangs at the top of the Grand Staircase—out of reach of the thousands of visitors who tour the White House each year.
The Bush portraits, sources said, were moved to the same secluded area.
Former President Barack Obama’s painting by Robert McCurdy
It’s a sharp break from decades of White House protocol, which traditionally assigns the most recent president’s prime placement in the Executive Mansion’s public spaces. CNN acquired a photo showing the new location, an area off-limits and mainly for the first family, the Secret Service, and a small cadre of staff. The prime real estate—visible to diplomats, dignitaries, and general visitors alike—has long been a bipartisan courtesy, a symbolic handoff from one presidency to the next.
Trump’s motives are apparent, though. He’s held a longstanding grudge against Obama, whose portrait had already been moved once in April, replaced with a painting of Trump surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. He may also be reserving space for a future jab at former President Joe Biden, whose official portrait isn’t finished yet.
This petty behavior fits a broader trend. Since returning to power in January, Trump has treated the White House like an extension of his gaudy Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, replacing historic elegance with gold-plated excess. He paved over the Rose Garden’s grassy lawn with concrete, lined it with striped umbrellas and deck tables, and is pushing a $200 million ballroom project modeled after the resort.
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Inside, the Oval Office has been transformed with gilded accents, golden eagle statues, cherub figurines, and triple the usual number of paintings. Yet nearly half of Americans (47%) disapprove of the renovations, according to a YouGov poll conducted on Aug. 7, while only 31% approve.
Trump’s willingness to break tradition isn’t limited to décor. His Justice Department, led by loyalist Attorney General Pam Bondi, has been used against political enemies, from issuing subpoenas to New York Attorney General Letitia James to targeting universities under the guise of eradicating antisemitism.
He’s also moved to strip security clearances from officials he feels have crossed him—including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former national security adviser Jake Sullivan—reusing a tactic he first used in 2018 against ex-CIA Director John Brennan. Back then, the White House claimed Brennan’s “erratic” behavior justified the move, but critics said it was plain political revenge.
The portrait snub also comes amid renewed tensions with the Obama administration. Trump recently accused the former president and his team of treason in 2016—charges Obama’s office dismissed as “bizarre,” “ridiculous,” and “a weak attempt at distraction.”
The Bush family also has a fraught history with Trump. George H.W. Bush once called him a “blowhard” and voted for Hillary Clinton. George W. Bush, meanwhile, reportedly described Trump’s 2017 inauguration as “some weird shit” and publicly sided with Obama on some issues, even after attending Trump’s 2025 inauguration but skipping the luncheon.
This isn’t the first time Trump has banished portraits of political rivals. During his first term, he replaced the presidential portraits of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the Grand Foyer with those of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
But the formal tradition of presidential portraits, privately funded by the nonprofit White House Historical Association, began under First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the early 1960s. For decades, the unveiling ceremonies and their display were one of the few White House customs that reliably crossed party lines.
Now, those traditions are gone, just like the Obama and Bush portraits: out of sight and behind closed doors.
