Joe Biden will unveil Donald Trump's portrait despite ex-POTUS' snub to Barack Obama, hints Jen Psaki
Ending the debate over whether President Joe Biden would snub his predecessor out of holding an official portrait revealing ceremony for him at the White House, given his contentious relationship with him in the past and the fact that former President Donald Trump never extended the same courtesy to Barack Obama, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, February 9, that she didn't think Biden would break the longstanding presidential tradition.
"I have no portrait revealings or portrait plans or portrait events to preview for you, but I have not been given any indication that we would break with tradition in that regard," Psaki said, answering a reporter's question about the ceremony. Psaki indicated that both Obama and Trump could be invited to the Biden White House for their portraits to be hung. However, whether there would be separate ceremonies for the same is currently unknown.
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Last year, NBC News reported that Trump decided against inviting Obama to the White House for a portrait unveiling ceremony, citing people familiar with the matter. Sources told the outlet that Obama also wasn't really interested in meeting Trump face-to-face.
There is a long-standing tradition of ex-presidents getting a White House portrait and a presidential library after they leave the office. Presidents usually have two portraits commissioned to be unveiled after they have left office — one hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, while the other hangs in the White House and both of them are unveiled at a certain pre-announced date by their successor. While Trump is also entitled to the dual honor, earlier it begged the question of whether his successor will be willing to participate in the unveiling event since Trump refused to publicly concede the race and made it as difficult as possible for him to have a smooth transfer of power.
There is also talk of Trump running for the White House again in four years, although there has been no official announcement. However, regardless of his post-presidency plans, the timeline of his portrait and his library will not be affected in any way and will solely depend on how cooperative Trump himself is with the process.
The National Archives will be tasked with keeping presidential records from Trump’s time in office until they can be displayed in a designated library. “The National Archives’ legal and physical custody of Trump Presidential records and/or the status of a Trump Presidential Library would not be affected if President Trump runs for office in 2024,” a spokesperson for the archives said in a statement. “NARA [the National Archives and Records Administration] assumes legal custody of all Presidential records at the end of the Presidential administration in accordance with the Presidential Records Act, which also governs access to these records.”
