Remember that bizarre official portrait of Barack Obama—standing stiffly in a black suit and gray tie, set against a blank white background? The 2022 painting by Robert McCurdy stirred some controversy when it was unveiled, and rightly so. At the time, I called it a perfect metaphor for Obama’s notorious narcissism. Of course he’d want his White House portrait stripped of any setting, context, or symbolism. Just him, front and center—because, in his mind, that’s all that matters.
Apparently, it was featured in the White House Entrance Hall:
Forever this portrait of @barackobama hanging in the @WhiteHouse will remind America of power of hope and change. pic.twitter.com/5sBqbZdOMF
— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) September 7, 2022
Why was it on display at the White House? Beats me. I get that it’s Obama’s official White House portrait and all, but doesn’t it belong in a service corridor or a janitor’s closet somewhere?
Well, guess what? The portrait was moved from its prime location on Friday, and this prime location is now being used for something so much better— a historic image capturing one of the most defining moments of the Trump presidency.
Flashback: Barack Obama’s Official White House Portrait Is the Perfect Metaphor for His Narcissism
The new portrait, unveiled Friday by the White House, shows President Trump in perhaps his most resolute moment: standing among Secret Service agents immediately after being shot in the ear during an assassination attempt, defiantly shouting “Fight, fight, fight!” It’s an image that perfectly encapsulates the fighting spirit that has defined his presidency.
Some new artwork at the White House 👀 pic.twitter.com/l6u5u7k82T
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 11, 2025
Predictably, critics immediately began claiming this was some sort of breach of protocol, suggesting the Obama portrait had been removed entirely. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung swiftly shut down that narrative with characteristic directness:
Pipe down, moron.
The Obama portrait was just moved a few feet away. https://t.co/2K6XsHn54N
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) April 11, 2025
The Hill has more:
A portrait of President Trump that depicts him raising his fist immediately following the attempt on his life last summer at a Butler, Pa., rally is replacing an image of former President Obama in a prominent spot inside the White House.
Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff, posted side-by-side photos on social media of the Trump artwork seemingly replacing the Obama painting on Friday at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.
The artwork of the 47th president shows him bloodied with an American flag waving behind him after he survived the assassination attempt last July. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment about the artist behind the painting.
The image of Trump appeared to take the place of a portrait of Obama that was unveiled at the White House in 2022. The lifelike portrait by artist
The white background, the White House said at the time, “allow the viewer to establish a relationship with the subject.”
The paper also notes that such portrait rearrangements are standard practice when new administrations take office. The Obama portrait remains in the Entrance Hall, just in a different location—though the symbolism of its replacement hasn’t been lost on observers from either side of the political aisle.
The new portrait serves as a sobering reminder of the assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pa., last July—a moment that demonstrated both the very real dangers presidents face and Trump’s remarkable resilience. While some critics on social media have promoted baseless conspiracy theories suggesting the attempt was staged, such claims ignore the tragic reality that people were killed and wounded during the incident.
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