White House tradition requires that portraits of the most recent American presidents receive the most prominent place, at the entrance to the executive mansion, visible to guests during official events.
That was the case until at least July 8, when President Donald Trump welcomed Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The two stood in the White House Hall of the Cross and made comments, with the portraits of Clinton and Bush looking essentially as they had been during Trump’s first term.
But in the days after that, the portraits of Clinton and Bush were transferred to the Old Family Dining Room, a small and underused room that most visitors don’t see.
That puts the paintings out of Trump’s point of view in the White House. In his previous location, the footage would have been viewed daily as Trump descends the stairs from his private third-floor residence or when hosting events on the state floor of the White House. Now they hang in a space primarily used to store unused tablecloths and furniture.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has similarly disparaged Bush and Clinton. In his book, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton wrote that Trump “despised” both Bush presidents, and people familiar with the talks say Trump criticized George W. Bush as “stupid.” Trump also punished Clinton, the husband of his 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, and suggested that he was a bad president.
Trump has not spoken extensively with either man as president, though he did greet them both in person during George HW Bush’s funeral in December 2018.
The portrait of Bush has been replaced by that of William McKinley, the 25th President of the Nation, assassinated in 1901, and the portrait of Clinton has been replaced by one of Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley, three people who have seen the portraits. this week. CNN
Trump has shown more affinity for those predecessors than his more recent ones. Early in his tenure, he asked about reversing an Obama-era name change to the highest mountain in the United States, from Denali to Mount McKinley. And this summer he denounced the decision to remove a Roosevelt statue from outside the New York Museum of Natural History, which some say symbolized racial discrimination.
“Ridiculous, don’t do it,” Trump said.
CNN reviewed the photographs of the new portrait locations, showing the portraits of Clinton and Bush now hanging in the Old Family Dining Room, a small space outside the large state dining room. The old family canteen is rarely used in the Trump administration, aides said, and was removed from the list of places visited during visits to the White House before the pandemic closed the executive mansion to the public.
“The President and Mrs. Trump did not want that room to be displayed on public tours,” said a separate official, adding that the room had essentially been converted into a warehouse for the past three years.
The old family dining room had been renovated in 2015 by Michelle Obama, with donations from the private White House Historical Association, and for the first time was open to the public for viewing. The room, which was established by President and Mrs. John Quincy Adams in 1825, was decorated with modern art, including “Resurrection” by Alma Thomas, the first black artist to be part of the permanent collection of the White House.
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