Has the official portrait of former President Barack Obama been closeted?
No … but CNN reported that “[President] Trump directed staff to move the Obama portrait to the top of the Grand Staircase … where it will now be out of view from thousands of visitors who tour the White House each day.”
Portraits of former President George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush were also moved, according to the report. They now share this less-than-prominent location, which is rarely viewed by the public.
Trump moves Obama, Bush portraits to hidden stairwell in White House | WDBJ7
Visitors to the White House will no longer see the official portrait of former President Barack Obama.
That is because it was recently moved from the entryway to a far less visible location at the top… pic.twitter.com/Yjnh5InVjd
— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) August 11, 2025
Trump is directly involved in nearly every decision, large and small, regarding White House presentation and display.
And this is not the first time that Trump has had the portrait of Obama moved.
In April, the Obama portrait was “… replaced with a painting of an iconic scene of Trump surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania,” CNN shared.
Now, after Trump accused Obama and members of his administration of treason during the 2016 election, the portrait has been placed in an obscure corner of this restricted space.
According to former White House curator Betty Monkman, the tradition of privately funding the presidential portrait by the nonprofit White House Historical Association began in the 1960s under first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
The commissioned photorealistic painting of Obama by Robert McCurdy will now hang in the corner of a stairway, which restricts access to only members of the first family, Secret Service agents, and limited White House staff.
Tradition establishes that the most prominent placement be given to portraits of recent American presidents in the entrance of the executive mansion, which is visible during official events and to visitors on tour.
In Trump’s first term, portraits of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were replaced in the Grand Foyer with images of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
In a move which has defied precedent, the Obama and Bush portraits have been removed to a place of obscurity.
What CNN described as “Trump’s latest slight against a perceived political rival” might also be described as Trump establishing a new protocol.
Trump’s eye for decorating appears to make the statement that it is not the recentness of time that should determine a position of prominence, but rather it should be the importance of the alignment of values that earns the most honored placement for display.
More simply stated, it appears Trump is decorating the White House by utilizing the old adage of “Out of sight, out of mind.”
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