President Donald Trump has made no secret about his hostility towards former President Barack Obama, using his platform to spread misinformation, including claims that Obama was not born in this country and calling him the founder of ISIS. But late last week, Trump took the pettiness to a whole new level of low, showing some not-so-subtle shade to America’s first Black President.
On April 11, Trump replaced former President Obama’s official portrait with a portrait of...you guessed it, a picture of him, according to the Associated Press. The space in a White House hallway, which is usually reserved for portraits of the most recent presidents, will now be used to display an oversized image of Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents and pumping his fist after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Penn. in July 2024.
But don’t worry, the Obama portrait isn’t going away completely, the Robert McCurdy painting, which has been on display since 2022, has been moved to another wall in the room, in a space that was occupied by a portrait of former President George W. Bush, according to The New York Times.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s decorating decision, saying in a statement that the “executive mansion is the president’s home, and he has the right to make changes as other presidents have in the past.”
While Trump’s MAGA base is happy to see his “fight, fight, fight” image take a prominent place in the White House, some online aren’t surprised that Trump would pick on Obama’s portrait in particular.
“Obama lives rent-free in Trump’s head,” wrote someone on X.
Others are calling BS on the moment, accusing the president of faking the assassination attempt just to create a photo op.
They may as well hang his fake Time Magazine cover right next to it and make it a set,” wrote someone on X.
Still others added that Trump’s decision is just another sign of his overly inflated ego.
“The sign of a person with confidence is one that does good deeds in silent and never talks about them. The sign of a person that is weak and has an ego ( that doesn’t match their intelligence) is one that brags and must have reminders all over the place,” wrote someone else on X.