By Mona Austin
(TSN): President Barrack Obama's face is no longer the first to greet visitors in the White House Grand Foyer. It has been swapped with a portrait depicting current Pres. Donald Trump raising a fist after surviving an assassination attempt at a July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This move broke with the longstanding tradition of displaying portraits of the two most recent presidents in the foyer. Obama's portrait remains on the same floor in the East Wing area, while portraits of former presidents George W. Bush and his father George H.W. Bush were situated to be near each other. Former First Lady Michelle Obama's portrait was also rearranged in the lower level of the building where pictures of other first ladies are located.
This change has been controversial, with historians criticizing it as a break from tradition and an act of self-aggrandizement. Historian Barbara Perry noted that other presidents who survived assassination attempts refrained from displaying images that depicted it.
Several posts online falsely stated that Obama, the first Black president, was completely removed from the Trump White House. During his first term Trump did not extend the customary invitation to his predecessor to unveil his official portrait. The Obamas' portraits were revealed during th3nBiden aadministration.
Changes were made as a part of an overall decorating enhancement at the Whute House an official tells me.. President Trump also added gold elements to the Oval Office to resemble decor at his Mar-a-Largo resort.