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Abraham Lincoln bust bundled out of White House with Trump photos and rugs, Obama official calls move 'illegal'

Bust of Abraham Lincoln, blow-up picture of Trump and Xi Jinping and even rugs, plants and a stuffed bird were among things that were seen leaving the presidential residence

It’s just a few days more for President Donald Trump's team to spend at the White House. The Republican commander-in-chief became the first one-time president of the 21st century and also the first since George HW Bush and despite his endless efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, Trump could not accomplish his mission and even ended up as the first president to get impeached twice. The second one coming on charges of instigating his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6.

It’s moving day for some staffers at the White House with the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president just days away. And as it has always been the case with the outgoing administration, a new controversy has surfaced. Multiple reports have said that a number of Trump aides are appearing to walk away with items that belong to the federal government and they include a bust of former president Abraham Lincoln that was on loan from a museum.

Peter Navarro, one of the outgoing president’s top advisors and China hawk, was pictured carrying an artwork — a big framed picture of Trump with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other dignitaries — and he was accused of engaging in “illegal” activity. 

People walking away with stuffed birds, rugs and plants

CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, who has had occasions of arguing with Trump in the past, was critical about stuff being moved out of the presidential residence. He said on air on Thursday, January 14: "People need to know that the items inside the White House are not giveaways, they're not souvenirs you can take home. This is not an estate sale or Antiques Roadshow.”

He also tweeted a picture of a woman carrying a stuffed bird out of the White House saying: “More stuff being moved out of West Wing. This appears to be a stuffed bird.”

He also tweeted a picture of Lincoln’s bust getting moved out. 

There were even pictures of people removing rugs and plants from the White House doing the rounds on Twitter. 

Former Obama official slams act

A former official of the Barack Obama administration that was in office before Trump’s tenure also slammed the removal of artwork for personal use as “illegal”. Kenneth Baer, former associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (2009-12), said in a tweet on Thursday: “These photos belong to the American people, and go to the National Archives.” Baer’s target was Navarro whose picture with the artwork was taken by White House and Capitol Hill photojournalist Erin Scott and posted on the social media platform by a Reuters editor. 

The White House has been abuzz with activity as the conclusion of Trump’s term nears. Stacks of empty cardboard boxes were seen delivered to the White House campus on Wednesday, January 13. The boxes were delivered to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where most offices are for the staff members of the White House. Officials were seen moving out with their belongings to trucks and vehicles waiting outside the White House as the US was getting ready for perhaps its most painful transition ever. 

It is not the first time that the Trump administration is being accused of walking away with artworks. In September last year, the prescient himself was reported to have brought three works of art from the Paris residence of Jamie McCourt, the US ambassador to France. His administration defended the act as legal but once back in Washington, the pieces were found to be replicas with a combined value of just $750,000.