Trump celebrates updated portrait in Colorado Capitol after criticizing earlier version

Well, folks, President Donald Trump has finally gotten a portrait in the Colorado State Capitol that doesn’t make him want to tear down the wall.

After a long saga of artistic disagreement, Trump has cheered a new painting by Vanessa Horabuena, which replaced a much-maligned earlier depiction, following a decision made by the Capitol Building Advisory Committee to install the White House-donated piece this week, as the Daily Mail reports.

Let’s rewind to 2019, when a portrait of Trump by Colorado Springs artist Sarah Boardman was first hung in the Capitol alongside other past presidents.

From praise to protest

Things took a sharp turn last spring when Trump blasted Boardman’s work on social media, calling it “unflattering” and a deliberate distortion.

“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,” Trump fumed. Talk about a brush with controversy — turns out, even presidential portraits aren’t immune to a good old-fashioned critique.

Boardman denied the accusations, but the damage was done, and Colorado lawmakers announced the very next day that her painting would be taken down and relegated to museum storage.

Swift removal sparks political debate

With the state’s Republican leadership reportedly pushing the removal, as noted by the Daily Mail, the portrait—funded by a Republican official, not the Democrat governor — was gone in a flash.

Some folks in Denver thought a blank wall was better than a disputed image, though one has to wonder if art should bow so quickly to political pressure. Still, the wall didn’t stay empty for long.

Last spring’s drama set the stage for a replacement, and about a month ago, the White House stepped in with a donation of a new portrait by Vanessa Horabuena, a Tempe, Arizona-based artist who styles herself as a “Christian Worship Artist.”

New portrait wins Trump’s approval

Horabuena’s work, which features a bronzed Trump gazing directly ahead, bears a striking similarity to recent official White House portraits — and, curiously, echoes the intensity of his Georgia mugshot from one of his legal battles during the 2020 campaign.

Trump appears noticeably trimmer in this version compared to Boardman’s depiction, and he’s clearly thrilled, declaring, “Thank you to the Highly Talented Artist, Vanessa Horabuena, and the incredible people of Colorado — Now on display in the Colorado State Capitol!” Well, when the man himself approves, who are we to argue?

The decision to hang this new piece came on Thursday from Lois Court, former state lawmaker and chair of the Capitol Building Advisory Committee, who noted, “There was a blank on the wall. It seemed inappropriate.”

Quiet unveiling amid future plans

Court added, “We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement, and it simply made sense to put it up.” A practical move, perhaps, though one wonders if art should be treated like a revolving door of political taste.

On Tuesday, with lawmakers out of session and no schoolchildren touring, the Colorado statehouse was calm, though a handful of tourists snapped photos of the new artwork, which was installed this week. Meanwhile, Horabuena has stayed silent, not returning calls for comment.

Looking ahead, the Capitol Building Advisory Committee is considering replacing presidential portraits, including Trump’s, with images of past governors to commemorate Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood next year. It seems even a freshly hung portrait might not be safe from the whims of history — or at least, from the next big anniversary. And isn’t that just the way of politics and art, always shifting with the winds of change?