Trump Moves Barack Obama’s Portrait Out of Sight in Latest Tension Escalation

The official portrait of former President Barack Obama has been relocated to a less conspicuous location within the White House, a move that underscores the prolonged tension between Obama and the current president, Donald Trump.

Portraits of other presidents with whom Trump has strained relations, including George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, have also been shifted. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Trump ordered staff to move the Obama portrait to the top of the Grand Staircase, where it is now obscured from thousands of daily visitors touring the White House. The portraits of both Bushes are also reportedly in the staircase area.

Multiple sources have confirmed that President Trump takes a keen interest in every aesthetic aspect of the White House, regardless of scale.

CNN obtained a photo showing the Obama portrait hanging at the top of the stairwell in a corner, at the landing of the entrance to the private residence. This area is heavily restricted to members of the first family, Secret Service agents, and a select group of White House and executive residence staff. The source confirmed that the area is off-limits for any visitor hoping to view the photorealistic Robert McCurdy painting of Obama.

The portrait’s new positioning marks Trump’s latest gesture towards a perceived political adversary. This action comes amid escalating tensions between Trump and Obama in recent months. Trump recently accused Obama and members of his administration of treason during the 2016 election, prompting a rare response from his predecessor. The former president’s office characterized the claims as “outrageous,” “bizarre,” and a “weak attempt at distraction.”

Trump’s FBI director, Pamela Bondi, subsequently ordered prosecutors to initiate a grand jury probe into allegations that top Obama administration officials fabricated intelligence about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Tensions between Trump and the Bush family also persist. The elder Bush, who passed away in 2018, labeled Trump a “blowhard” in his biography and voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. George W. Bush, whom Trump has criticized as a “failed and uninspiring” president, and former first lady Laura Bush did not attend the post-ceremony luncheon following Trump’s 2025 inauguration, despite attending the inauguration itself.

CNN reached out to the White House and the White House Historical Association for comment, but has yet to receive a response. A spokesperson for the office of former President Obama declined to comment as well.

During Trump’s first term, he replaced portraits of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the Grand Foyer with those of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. The tradition of presidential portraits, funded by the nonprofit White House Historical Association, began in the early 1960s under first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Prior to that, there was a relatively haphazard policy regarding the portraits’ funding and commissioning. In modern times, presidents and first ladies have invited their predecessors, former staff, friends, and family for unveiling ceremonies of these portraits.