There are certain faces of former United States presidents that the current man in office, Donald Trump, wishes to avoid seeing on his way to Oval Office every morning. According to CNN, the White House has removed the official portraits of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush from the Grand Foyer (or Entrance Hall), the formal entrance to the House and a central location where guests and world leaders are greeted, to a smaller, less frequented room.
According to the report, the presidential portraits of Clinton and Bush were moved last week to the Old Family Dining Room, a room rarely used or seen by visitors. The relocation also removes the portraits from Trump’s view as he descends from his third-floor private residence to the State Floor.
The White House has not immediately responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.
The removed portraits were replaced by those of former Republican presidents more revered by Trump, according to CNN’s report. Bush’s portrait was replaced by that of William McKinley, the 25th US president who was assassinated in 1901, and the Clinton portrait has been replaced by that of McKinley’s successor, Theodore Roosevelt.
Trump has previously expressed his dislike of the Bush dynasty and continues to attack the Clintons after his defeat of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
In May, reports circulated that Trump will likely refuse to unveil the official portrait of his predecessor and nemesis, Barack Obama. The former Democratic president, who has been more vocally critical of Trump in the past few months, has indicated that he too would gladly skip the ceremony.
Trump’s pettiness knows no bounds.
Such a petty, small president we have currently in the WH.
President Clinton and President Bush can only consider the purging of their portraits as an honor. President McKinley and President Roosevelt are not alive to defend their reputations.
I don’t think moving the Presidential portraits around is petty. The President has that privilege and prerogative. If I were President today, I certainly wouldn’t have G.W. Bush or Clinton in the most prominent spot. That would go to Eisenhower without a doubt, and then I’d have a tough choice between Hayes and Cleveland. Is it petty to decorate your residence as you see fit, or is it petty to complain about someone decorating their residence as they see fit?