Trump is snubbing a White House tradition by refusing to hang Barack Obama’s portrait, a ceremony which is usually seen as a rare moment of praise and
Trump is snubbing a White House tradition by refusing to hang Barack Obama’s portrait, a ceremony which is usually seen as a rare moment of praise and bipartisanship in deeply divided American politics.
Not one for rituals, however, Donald Trump is reported to have decided against it this time around. And Barack Obama is understood not to be too upset by the apparent shunning.
It is a White House tradition that dates back half a century. The president hangs the portrait of his predecessor up on the wall for prosperity. Every president since the 1970s has unveiled a painting of the man in office before him. The ceremony is seen as a rare moment of praise and bipartisanship in deeply divided American politics.
Official White House portraits are separate from the presidential portraits that hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, where the Obamas’ were unveiled in February 2018. The process for the White House portraits begins near the end of a president’s term or soon after, and it takes a few years to complete.
If Trump wins a second term in November, Obama may have to wait until 2025 to have his portrait revealed and displayed among every US president before him.
According to sources close to Obama, he has no interest in participating in the post-presidency rite of passage so long as Trump is in office.
There is no love lost between presidents 44 and 45. Trump has issued unprecedented criticism of Obama and has dedicated much of his first term to undoing his rival’s key policies. Most recently, Trump began making accusations that Obama and Joe Biden, former Vice President and presumed Democratic nominee, committed a crime in relation to the investigation and prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Obama has mostly held his tongue, preferring not to respond to Trump. He did, however, refer to Trump as a “little kid” during a televised commencement address last week, without mentioning his name.
