Trump bought three art pieces from US envoy's home in Paris for $750K but they were all fake: Report
It seems President Donald Trump’s uneasy tryst with France is not ending anytime soon. While the controversy over his alleged insulting of America’s fallen heroes refuses to die down, it has now emerged that POTUS ended up buying fake works of art from the official residence of the American ambassador to the European nation for an estimated $750,000.
According to a report in Bloomberg, after Trump’s trip to a French cemetery for the fallen Marines was canceled during his trip to France in November 2018, he had some time to spend in a mansion that was filled with artwork and bought several pieces of them. "Trump fancied several of the pieces in the US ambassador’s historic residence in Paris, where he was staying, and on a whim had them removed and loaded onto Air Force One, according to people familiar with the matter. The works — a portrait, a bust, and a set of silver figurines — were brought back to the White House," the Bloomberg report said.
Trump, who was in Paris with other world leaders to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War (1914-18), stayed at the official residence of Ambassador Jamie McCourt — the palatial Hôtel de Pontalba, which dates back to the mid-19th century. The grand mansion has also served as a flagship of the Department of State’s 'Art in Embassies' cultural diplomacy program and is also open to tours.
All three items were found to be replicas but Trump liked them more
Among the pieces that Trump picked were a portrait of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), which was painted by Joseph Duplessis around 1785. One of the best known Americans of his time, Franklin represented the new American republic in France at the time when the oil painting was made. According to the National Portrait Gallery, "he was revered for his wit and scientific knowledge" in France.
The second item was a bust of Franklin and while little is known about it, a 2015 photo of the residence showed what looks to be a version of Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), a famous French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon made his first portrait of Franklin in terracotta and it is now kept in The Louvre. The third piece included a set of figurines of Greek mythical characters.
All three items that Trump wanted to accompany him back to Washington were later found to be replicas. The combined value of all three artworks was estimated by Bloomberg at $750,000. Trump however joked that he liked the fake better than the $3M original, two sources familiar with the incident were heard saying.
Ambassador McCourt, a Republican, was surprised to see the act but didn’t object, Bloomberg cited people briefed on the incident as saying. The president later said that the ambassador would get the art back “in six years” when his potential second term in office would be winding down. However, under the Constitution, Trump can be in power till 2024 at the most provided he wins this year’s re-election bid.
The pieces were loaded aboard Air Force One while Trump visited another cemetery before returning home.
Trump administration saw furious mail exchange
"The President brought these beautiful, historical pieces, which belong to the American people, back to the United States to be prominently displayed in the People’s House," White House spokesman Judd Deere told Bloomberg News.
However, all was not well with his administration over this act. The move saw a furious exchange of emails between the state department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations and officials at the White House who were behind organizing the art’s transfer, the Bloomberg report added. It was being debated whether such an act was legal but since the art is the government’s property, it was considered legal.
Trump is known to put on display mementos that he collects during official trips and meetings in his West Wing dining room. A senior official at the White House said the presidents are allowed to display gifts from Americans or heads of state during their stay in office but have to buy them if they want to keep them after their exit from the White House. He had once used his charity's money to buy a giant portrait of himself.
The president’s 2018 visit to France has recently sparked an outrage after The Atlantic reported that he refused to pay a visit to Aisne-Marne Cemetery outside the French capital because he feared his hair would be ruined in the rain. He also reportedly belittled the martyrs of the Belleau Wood (1918) who were buried in that cemetery by calling them “losers” and “suckers”. The president and his aides later slammed the report saying it was not true even as his critics, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, blasted him over the controversial remarks.