The official portrait of former President Barack Obama has been moved from the entryway of the White House to an area that is not open to the public.
The move was confirmed to USA TODAY by a White House official.
Tensions between the former and current presidents have spiked in recent weeks. Obama last month hit back at a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which claimed the former president and top aides had “manufactured and politicized intelligence” against Trump after he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Obama’s office in a statement dismissed the Trump administration’s claims as “nonsense and misinformation.” Trump also accused Obama of “treason” during an Oval Office meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, calling him a “ringleader” and his actions “seditious.”
Trump has a long history of going after Obama, starting with the birther conspiracy theory.
Now, Obama’s portrait, painted by Robert McCurdy and unveiled in September 2022, has been relocated to the top of the White House’s Grand Staircase, at the landing of the entrance to the president’s private residence. That area is restricted to public during White House tours.
This is the second time Obama’s portrait has been moved. The 44th president enjoys the highest favorability rating among all living presidents.
In April, it was bumped to make space for a portrait capturing the assassination attempt on Trump in Bulter, Pennsylvania, with his face dripping with blood and an American flag in the background.
“Some new artwork at the White House,” the official White House account posted on the social media platform X.
Some new artwork at the White House 👀 pic.twitter.com/l6u5u7k82T
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 11, 2025
The Obama portrait was relocated across the foyer.
The White House Historical Association has acquired and commissioned official portraits of the president and first lady since 1965. After the portraits are presented to the public during an unveiling ceremony, they hang in the White House.
It is customary to include the two most recent presidential portraits in the White House’s Grand Foyer. The portrait of former President Joe Biden has not yet been completed.
The Trump White House also has moved the portraits of former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush to the staircase area. Neither of the former presidents endorsed Trump when he ran for the White House in 2016 or in any elections after that.
Those aren’t the only decor changes made by Trump. He’s picked frames and portraits for the Cabinet Room, overseen a massive golden overhaul of the Oval Office, reconstructed the Rose Graden and is in the process of building a grand ballroom in the East Wing.
“I do that in my part-time because it’s a natural instinct,” he said during a press conference at the White House on Aug. 11. “As a real estate person, I was very good at that and I was very good at fixing things up.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama portrait moved away from public view
