US President Donald Trump has swapped an official portrait of former US President Barack Obama with a painting depicting himself surviving an assassination attempt. The new artwork, now displayed in the White House’s State Floor foyer, captures the moment when a bloodied Trump raised his clenched fist in the air after being shot at during a campaign rally in July 2024.

The White House announced the surprising change in a video post on X, simply stating “Some new artwork at the White House.” Obama’s portrait, which originally hung in the foyer, has been relocated to the opposite side.

This extraordinary decision to replace a former president’s portrait with one of a sitting president has raised eyebrows among several news agencies. Normally, presidential portraits are traditionally hung at the end of a president’s term.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended the decision on X, telling a critic to “Pipe down, moron.” He also added that only the location of the Obama portrait was changed.

Trump’s engagement with paintings is not limited to the White House. Recently, a Trump painting that was part of a group of presidential portraits at the Colorado state Capitol was removed after the President complained that it was “purposefully distorted.”

Throughout his political career, Trump has held animosity towards Obama. He began his political journey by promoting the false “birther” conspiracy theory, claiming that Obama was born outside of the US and therefore ineligible to be president. He also accused Obama of having his phone lines tapped during the 2016 election, though no evidence was provided. The allegations were later debunked by the FBI.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/trump-replaces-obama-portrait-with-one-of-himself/a-72226224?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf