Trump’s Assassination Attempt Replaces Obama’s Portrait
In a video shared by the White House deputy press secretary, Harrison Fields, on X (formerly Twitter), you can easily notice that they’ve made a few decor choices! Trump’s fist pump picture replaces former president Barack Obama’s portrait at the White House’s Grand Foyer. The new artwork was brought into the West Wing on Tuesday and was hung with minimal ceremony on Friday.
The Obama portrait, created by artist Robert McCurdy with his signature white background and photorealistic style, was moved from the foyer in the White House’s East Room to the Grand Foyer. Earlier, George W. Bush’s portrait hung there.
According to Princeton’s Presidential Historian, Julian E. Zelizer, “In the second term, it’s not just winning the White House. He’s always had intense animosity for President Obama, all the way back to the early 2010s. And I think this time around, he really wants to show that he has — in his mind — supplanted him.”
President Donald Trump’s New Presidential Portrait
The new Donald Trump presidential portrait depicts Trump with his fist raised, surrounded by Secret Service agents. The picture captures a significant moment from his second-term Presidential campaign, after a gunman’s assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bullet grazed his ear, despite which he continued his agenda. Modern pop artist Marc Lipp created the painting on canvas. Andrew Pollock, through the Blue Gallery, Delray Beach, Florida, donated to the White House.
In the pop-art-inspired artwork, blood is splattered across his face. After the incident, Trump’s rally chanted “fight, fight, fight.” Now, this image is forever associated with these vindictive words. Behind Trump and the agents, the American flag waves in a cloudless blue sky. The painting is inspired by images captured during the assassination attempt by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci and New York Times photographer Doug Mills.
In a report by the New York Times, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, stated that the “executive mansion is the president’s home, and he has the right to make changes as other presidents have in the past. President Trump decided to temporarily display this painting, which represents a pivotal moment in history when he nearly lost his life.”
The Case of Presidential Portraits
With every new President’s term, presidential portraits have become the norm. Since the 1960s, the nonprofit, White House Historical Association, then under first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, has financed these portraits, including the new Trump’s fist-pump portrait. Congress, presidents, or their benefactors. funded the portraits before the 1960s.
It must be interesting to note that Donald Trump didn’t get a presidential portrait in his first term. The 46th POTUS, Joe Biden’s portrait is still midway.
More Trump Portraits?
Even though Trump’s Presidential fist-pump portrait was unveiled, it by no means stops here. Official portraits of the POTUS and First Lady for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s collection are currently being created. A date for its unveiling is yet to be determined. The portraits were privately funded, with contributions, including a $650,000 donation from Trump’s Save America PAC.
According to National Portrait Gallery spokesperson Concetta Duncan, the funding covers artist fees, shipping, framing, installation, and related events.
Image Courtesy – The Daily Beast
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