White House shifts Clinton and Bush portraits from foyer to storage room so Trump doesn't have to see them
The official portraits of former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have been removed from Grand Foyer of the White House over the last week and replaced by the paintings of two former Republican presidents who led the country more than a century ago. No explanations were given for the move.
According to longtime White House tradition, the pride of having their picture or portrait hung at Grand Foyer of the White House had been given to the most recent occupiers of the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Since the portraits of former President Barack Obama has not been officially unveiled yet, the honor belonged to Clinton and Bush, who were his immediate predecessors.
Throughout President Trump's first term, the portraits had occupied the prestigious position, which is easily visible to guests during official events. The same was true for the time President Donald Trump welcomed Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the White House earlier this month. When the two leaders were filmed standing at the Cross Hall of the White House and making remarks, the portraits of Clinton and Bush were visible in the backdrop.
However, since then, the portraits have been shifted to the Old Family Dining Room, which is rarely used for any official dinners or important visitations, White House aides told CNN. It is not seen by most visitors and is almost never visited by the president or any prominent members of the White House. It has since been transformed into a storage space where old furniture and other unused commodities are stored.
Three people who saw the paintings told CNN that the Bush portrait has been replaced by that of William McKinley, the country's 25th president, who was assassinated in 1901, and the Clinton portrait has been replaced by one of Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley.
Although the White House has not given any clarification behind the sudden shift, according to CNN, one of the reasons could be due to the fact that previously the pictures were in the direct view of Trump as he descended the staircase from his third floor private residence on a regular basis or when he hosted events on the state floor of the White House. After the shift the paintings are well outside Trump's vantage point.
The Old Family Dining Room, where the paintings are presently hanging, was taken off the list of locations visited during White House tours before the pandemic paused all public visitations and tours to the executive mansion. "President and Mrs. Trump did not want that room showcased on public tours," a separate official said.
Trump famously has a less-than-warm rapport with his recent predecessors, especially Obama, whom he has accused of unsubstantiated and unspecified crimes and even given rise to the 'birther' conspiracy, according to which he claimed that the 44th president of the United States was not born in the nation. Similarly, he has frequently criticized Clinton and Bush. While he has lambasted George W. Bush as "stupid," he slammed the husband of his 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, as being an incompetent leader.
