Overview

• A White House official confirmed that Barack Obama’s Robert McCurdy portrait, unveiled in 2022, now hangs at the landing of the Grand Staircase, an area off-limits to public tours.
• CNN and other outlets report that the official portraits of George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush were also relocated to the same private stairwell.
• The removal defies a longstanding protocol since the 1960s that reserves the Grand Foyer for the two most recent presidential portraits; Joe Biden’s official portrait has not yet been completed.
• Multiple sources say President Trump personally approves most aesthetic changes at the White House, from major renovations to minor decor shifts.
• Observers interpret the portrait relocations as a political statement reflecting intensifying disputes and investigations involving the current administration and former officials.