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Photo: Nathan Howard/Reuters

From paving the Rose Garden to constructing a massive ballroom, President Trump is on a mission to transform the White House into Mar-a-Lago North. And one thing his coastal Florida residence definitely doesn’t feature is artwork honoring some of his biggest presidential antagonists.

So now he has moved the official portrait of Barack Obama from the Grand Foyer of the White House to the top of the Grand Staircase, which means it will not be visible to the thousands of people who take public tours each day. As CNN reported, portraits of George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush have been moved to the same location.

This is not just a routine artwork rotation. White House protocol calls for the paintings of the most recent presidents to be placed at the public entrance to the executive mansion. (Joe Biden has been spared this revenge redecorating as his portrait is not yet finished.) Trump is reportedly heavily involved in all the recent White House renovations, and two sources told CNN that Trump directed staffers to move the Obama portrait.

Since returning to office, Trump has been relocating portraits for maximum trolling. These changes have been highlighted by the president himself and on official social-media feeds. In April, Trump squeezed an image of himself — the same one he uses as his Truth Social profile picture — between portraits of former First Ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton:

President @realDonaldTrump shows @glennbeck his latest addition in the White House 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ib426C0sC0

— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) April 23, 2025

Around the same time, Obama’s official portrait was moved across the Grand Foyer to make space for a painting of Trump with his fist raised after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania:

Some new artwork at the White House 👀 pic.twitter.com/l6u5u7k82T

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 11, 2025

Apparently, Trump recently decided that being featured anywhere in public view is too good for the 44th president. As CNN noted, now only people with access to the private residence will be able to see the portraits of Obama and the two Bushes:

CNN obtained a photo of the Obama portrait hanging at the top of the stairwell in a corner, at the landing of the entrance to the private residence. That area is heavily restricted to members of the first family, US Secret Service agents, and a limited number of White House and executive residence staff. It is firmly out of view for any visitor hoping to see the photorealistic Robert McCurdy painting of the former president, a source familiar with the matter confirmed.

This adds yet another weird wrinkle to the story. The president being so petty that he has to hide portraits of his predecessors is one thing. But why not just put the paintings in storage or some unused hallway? Instead, Trump put paintings of his presidential nemeses in a spot where he alone can see them as he plots his revenge. It’s a real supervillain move.

Trump Moves Obama and Bush Portraits in Revenge Redecorating

Trump Moves Obama and Bush Portraits in Revenge Redecorating