WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Friday hung a painting of President Donald Trump depicting a moment after an assassination attempt against him last summer — bumping the official portrait of one of his predecessors, Barack Obama, to a location nearby.
Obama’s portrait went on display in the foyer in the State Floor, near the staircase to the presidential residence, after it was unveiled in 2022. The White House says it is still in the foyer, but has been moved to the opposite wall where a portrait of former President George W. Bush used to hang.
Plans are to move Bush’s portrait near his father’s, former President George H.W. Bush, which is on the staircase to the residence.
Tradition has it that portraits of the two most recent presidents hang in the foyer.
The new painting, a picture of which the White House posted on its official account on X, captures the aftermath of an attempt on Trump’s life during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was wounded in the ear and thrust his fist skyward to declare “Fight, fight, fight!’
That became a key rallying cry for his successful reelection campaign.
The Trump portrait was hung without advance notice, which is unusual — though Trump’s position is unique in that he is both the current and a former president. That’s a situation the U.S. hasn’t seen since Grover Cleveland served non-consecutive terms in the 1880s and 1890s.
Then-President Joe Biden, and his wife, Jill, welcomed former President Obama and his wife, Michelle, to the White House for the unveiling of Obama’s portrait in 2022.
Regardless of party affiliation, the current president had often genially hosted his immediate predecessor for the unveiling. That’s what Democrat Bill Clinton did for Republican George H.W. Bush and the younger President Bush did for Clinton.
The Obamas hosted George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, at the White House for the unveiling of Bush’s official portrait in 2012.
There was an unexplained pause when Trump did not host Obama during his first term.
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