Trump relegates portraits of Obama and Bush from main staircase
He moved the painting from the top of the Grand Staircase, where it was on display for thousands of daily visitors, to a corner staircase connecting the private residence with the rest of the building.
Trump also moved pictures of George W Bush, the former Republican president who declined to endorse Trump at last year's election, and George HW Bush, his father, according to CNN. Bush Sr voted for Hillary Clinton at the 2016 election and called Trump a 'blowhard'.
Since returning to office, Trump has overseen a significant renovation of the White House. He has replaced the Rose Garden lawn with a white patio, apparently replicating the aesthetic of his Mar-a-Lago resort by using the same yellow and white parasols on the tables.
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He has also reinstalled a button in the Oval Office to order cans of Diet Coke and added gilded architectural detailing to the fireplace.
Last week, he was seen on the roof of the White House overseeing plans to replace the East Wing with a $200 million ballroom. 'There's never been a president that was good at ballrooms,' he said. 'I'm good at building things and we're going to build quickly and on time.' Renderings released of the ballroom show a neoclassical hall with a coffered ceiling and golden chandeliers.
As part of the makeover, Trump has taken a particular interest in the arrangement of the portraits and appears to have spent months deciding on the best place for Obama.
Trump had earlier said that he spent time going through the White House art collection to find paintings he liked. 'I actually spent time in the vaults. The vaults are where we have a lot of great pictures and artwork. And I picked it all myself,' he said.
The Obama painting, completed in 2018, was rehung on the other side of the Grand Foyer in April. In its place, Trump put up a picture of himself depicting the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Now Obama has been relegated to an even less prominent place as Trump continues his attacks on his predecessor almost a decade since the first African-American president left office. Trump has accused Obama of orchestrating an attempted coup against him and perpetrating a 'hoax' about his connections to Russia.
A spokesman for Obama has dismissed the 'outrageous' claims as a 'weak attempt at distraction'.
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