A new painting of Donald Trump depicting the moments after his attempted assassination last July appears to have replaced a portrait of former President Barack Obama in a prominent spot at the White House.
A three-second video of people walking in front of the work was shared by the White House X account in a cryptic post this afternoon, April 11. Clearly visible in the video is the notorious action shot of Trump, who has blood on his face from a bullet scrape to the ear and raises his right arm in a fist as the Secret Service tackles him, all under a United States flag.
Though it is unclear who created or commissioned the artwork, the portrait appears to be a stylized and highly saturated representation of a moment captured by New York Times photographer Doug Mills or the Associated Press‘s Evan Vucci at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, based on the angle and position of the scene. The image was co-opted by Trump as campaign propaganda, and photographers have expressed concerns that its circulation helped advance the president’s dangerous discourse about himself as a martyr.
The NYT and AP have not yet responded to Hyperallergic‘s requests for comment.
The new painting appears to have replaced Robert McCurdy’s 2022 official portrait of Obama, commissioned by the White House Historical Association (WHHA), which previously hung in the same Grand Foyer spot. A Trump spokesperson said on X that the portrait of Obama wasn’t removed but instead relocated to the entrance hall of the White House state floor.
The rehang comes weeks after Trump directed a barrage of insults at a Colorado artist who won a competition to paint him for a presidential gallery at the Colorado State Capitol. Within hours of the complaint, launched on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, the painting came down in a bipartisan mandate.
Last month, the Trump administration and the Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin gifted a portrait to the president. It is unclear whether the portrait now hanging in the White House was a gift from Putin.
Typically, the WHHA commissions two sets of portraits for each sitting president, unveiling the first during their presidency, which joins the National Portrait Gallery collection. The second is typically revealed after the term ends and displayed in the White House. The new White House portrait appears to deviate from the WHHA’s previous portraits, which feature posed subjects.