President Donald Trump has directed White House staff to relocate the official portraits of former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush from the Grand Foyer to the top of the Grand Staircase, CNN reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The Grand Staircase is a restricted area leading to the presidential residence and is off-limits to the thousands of tourists who visit the building each day. The shift breaks with decades of tradition that gives the most recent former presidents prominence in the entrance hall. With the portraits now out of sight, visitors to the executive mansion will not see images of the 44th and 43rd presidents; the portrait of former President Joe Biden has not yet been completed. Sources told CNN that Trump personally oversees most changes to the White House décor. In April he moved Obama’s portrait across the foyer and installed a painting depicting himself moments after surviving a July 2024 assassination attempt. The latest relocation comes amid heightened tensions with Obama—whom Trump accused on July 22 of “treason” in connection with the 2016 Russia probe—and a long-running feud with the Bush family. The White House, as well as representatives for Obama and the Bush family, have not commented on the decision.
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Trump moves Obama, Bush portraits to hidden stairwell in White House | WDBJ7 Visitors to the White House will no longer see the official portrait of former President Barack Obama. That is because it was recently moved from the entryway to a far less visible location at the top https://t.co/Yjnh5InVjd