Assessing Claims That Trump Refuses to Unveil Barack Obama’s Presidential Portrait
Fact Check
Trump did not have an official ceremony for the portrait, but it was by mutual agreement.
A viral post claims that President Donald Trump refused to unveil Barack Obama’s presidential portrait and won’t allow it to hang in the White House. “This is the official White House portrait of President Obama that Trump refuses to hang and have an official unveiling for,” the post reads. “It is the first time in history that a sitting president has been so petty. Trump may not hang it, but can share it and flood the internet with it!”
The claim is outdated and includes some inaccuracies. It’s true that Trump did not host a ceremony during his first term to unveil Obama’s presidential portrait, but the decision appears to have been made mutually by both the Trump White House and the Obamas. The image shown is also not Obama’s official portrait, which was eventually unveiled by President Joe Biden in
Sitting presidents traditionally host their predecessor at the White House for a ceremony to unveil an official portrait. In , for example, George W. Bush hosted Bill Clinton
Presidential Portraits Unveiled and Installed, Feb. 12,
Note: The museum’s official portrait of Mrs. Michelle Obama is off view until September 19, when it returns to the museum in the touring exhibition Amy Sherald: American Sublime, a mid-career retrospective organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery unveiled its commissioned portraits of former President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively. The artworks were revealed in a private ceremony in the museum’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard as part of the Portrait Gallery’s 50th anniversary celebrations. President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered remarks as did Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton, National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet and artists Wiley and Sherald.
“For 50 years, the National Portrait Gallery has told the story of America through the people who have impacted this country’s history and culture,” Sajet said. “We are thrilled to present to the nation these remarkable portraits of our 44th president, Barack Obama, and former First Lady, Michelle Obama, painted by two of th
Portrait of President Barack Obama
Artifact SeriesDomestic Gifts
Artifact IDDO
Object Type Painting
Artist André Garon (Canadian)
Gifter André Garon
Intended Recipient President Barack Obama (American, )
Date
Medium canvas, paint (acrylic)
DimensionsOverall - 3D H 39 in x W 39 in x D 2 1/2 in ( cm x cm x cm )
Custodial History / ProvenanceThe item was a gift from a member of the general public to President Barack Obama during the Obama administration. It was received through the Office of the President and maintained there until its transfer to the National Archives in January for deposit with the Obama Presidential onal Details
National Archives Catalog CollectionBarack Obama Artifact Collection (National Archives Identifier )
National Archives Catalog SeriesDomestic Gifts (National Archives Identifier )
Use Restriction Stat
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About the Subject
Barack Obama made history in by becoming the first African American president of the United States. The former Illinois state senator’s election signaled a feeling of hope for the future even as the U.S. was undergoing its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. While working to improve the economy, Obama enacted the Affordable Care Act, extending health benefits to millions of previously uninsured Americans. Overseas, he oversaw the drawdown of American troops in the Middle East—a force reduction that was controversially replaced with an expansion of drone and aviation strikes. Though his mission to kill Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was successful, his pledge to close the Guantanamo prison went unrealized. Obama grew up in Hawaii, where he was one of only three black students at the Punahou School. As a student, he became aware of what it meant to be African American—a realization he later brought with him to the White House. After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College (Los Angeles) and graduated from Columbia University (New York City), where he earned a degree in political science in A
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