Former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza took to Instagram with complaints about President Donald Trump’s recent redecorating moves.
As BizPac Review previously reported, Trump has been moving portraits around since he took back the Oval Office in November 2024. Earlier this week, he made the decision to relocate former President Barack Obama’s portrait “to a location in the White House where visitors are typically not allowed.”
“The portrait is now hanging at the top of the Grand Staircase in the White House — a location that is generally inaccessible to visitors — alongside portraits of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, according to CNN, which obtained a photo of the Obama portrait in its new location,” the article reads.
This didn’t sit well with Souza, who decried the move on social media.
“Petty or racist? There is a longstanding protocol/tradition where the portraits of former Presidents are hung. The most recent ones are displayed in the Grand Foyer, then the Cross Hall, then the Grand Staircase, in that order,” he wrote in the caption. “They are all prominently displayed so visitors during the White House public tours would see the most recent Presidents. (Other portraits like Lincoln and Washington are displayed prominently in the State Dining Room and East Room.) During President Obama’s administration, for instance, the portraits of Presidents Bush 43 and Clinton hung in the Grand Foyer. The portraits of President Bush 41, Reagan, Carter, Ford, and Kennedy were hung along the Cross Hall. (I never did figure out where Nixon went.) On the Grand Staircase, shown in this photo, were portraits of Eisenhower and Truman.”
“At the top of this Grand Staircase, at the back entrance to the private residence, were a couple of other presidential portraits. I will confess I forget which ones. These were not visible to those on the White House tours. Actually, they weren’t visible to anyone except those descending those stairs from the private residence (so the President, First Lady, heads of state, and Secret Service). According to CNN, the current occupant of the Oval Office has moved the portrait of President Obama from the Grand Foyer (where it should be) to that hidden area at the top of the Grand Staircase. Thus, it cannot be seen publicly on White House tours and cannot be seen by the White House staff,” the post continued.
“Why was this done? Was it because President Obama lives rent-free in the current occupant’s head? I’d say that’s pretty petty. Or could there be another reason?”
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Author: Sierra Marlee
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