President Donald Trump has moved the official portraits of former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and George H.W. Bush from their traditional prominent positions in the White House to a restricted stairwell area, breaking decades of established protocol for displaying presidential artwork.
Trump directed staff to relocate Obama’s portrait to the top of the Grand Staircase, according to CNN sources familiar with the matter. The photorealistic painting by Robert McCurdy now hangs at the landing of the entrance to the private residence, an area restricted to the first family, Secret Service agents, and a limited number of White House staff.
The portraits of both Bush presidents have also been moved to the same staircase area, placing all three former presidents’ official images out of view from the thousands of visitors who tour the White House each day. White House protocol traditionally calls for portraits of the most recent presidents to be displayed prominently in the entrance of the executive mansion, where they remain visible to guests during official events and public tours.
This marks the second time Obama’s portrait has been repositioned since Trump returned to office. In April, the Obama portrait was moved across the Grand Foyer and replaced with a painting depicting Trump surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The White House posted the new artwork on social media with Trump’s face bloodied and an American flag in the background.
Former White House photographer Pete Souza, who served as Chief Official White House Photographer for both Reagan and Obama, criticized the decision on Instagram. Souza explained that during Obama’s presidency, portraits of Bush and Clinton hung in the Grand Foyer, while the elder Bush’s portrait was displayed in the Cross Hall alongside Reagan, Carter, Ford, and Kennedy. He noted that portraits at the top of the Grand Staircase, where Obama’s now resides, were not visible to White House tour visitors or anyone except those descending from the private residence.
The portrait relocations reflect escalating tensions between Trump and his predecessors. Trump recently accused Obama and members of his administration of committing treason during the 2016 election. Obama’s office dismissed these claims as “outrageous,” “bizarre,” and a “weak attempt at distraction.” Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered prosecutors to begin a grand jury investigation into allegations that Obama administration officials manufactured intelligence about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Relations between Trump and the Bush family have also remained strained. The elder Bush, who died in 2018, called Trump a “blowhard” in a biography and voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump has described George W. Bush as a “failed and uninspiring” president. George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush attended Trump’s 2025 inauguration but did not participate in the post-ceremony luncheon.
Multiple sources indicated that Trump is directly involved in nearly all White House aesthetic decisions, both large and small. The president has undertaken extensive changes to the White House decor since returning to power, including covering the Rose Garden’s grassy lawn with concrete and planning a 200 million dollar ballroom resembling his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump has also transformed the Oval Office with golden leaf accents, tripled the number of paintings on the walls, and added gilded accents, golden eagle statues, and cherub figurines from Mar-a-Lago. In June, he removed a bust of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office, along with a pot of Swedish ivy that had been in the room for 50 years.
During his first presidential term, Trump also rearranged presidential portraits, replacing those of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the Grand Foyer with portraits of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. The formal tradition of presidential portraits began in the early 1960s under first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, according to former White House curator Betty Monkman, who noted the practice represents generosity from current administrations toward their predecessors.
Obama’s portrait, unveiled in September 2022, was painted by Robert McCurdy and had been prominently displayed in the White House entrance. Former President Joe Biden’s official portrait has not yet been completed. The White House Historical Association has acquired and commissioned official portraits of presidents and first ladies since 1965, with unveiling ceremonies typically held before the portraits take their places in the executive mansion.