Newsom Expertly Rips Trump For Hiding Obama Portrait In Hidden Staircase At White House

In 2022, Democratic President Barack Obama's official White House portrait was unveiled.

This is the painting that remains at the White House as part of that building's official collection, not the one that resides in the Smithsonian Museum's National Portrait Gallery.

Afterward, it was placed in the entryway at the bottom of the grand staircase—in keeping with White House tradition.

The prior President’s portrait is usually placed in this spot. The Bidens and Obamas came together for the 2022 unveiling of their White House portraits by artists Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung.

The Obamas' portraits for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery were unveiled in 2018 and were by artists Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley.

By tradition, President Biden's White House portrait, once it is completed, should replace President Obama's at the bottom of the grand staircase.

Except President Obama's portrait is no longer there.

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump had Presidents Obama and both Bush's portraits moved to an area inaccessible by the public, a spot far from the view of the visitors who pass through the White House on official tours.

Republican Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush's portraits were also moved out of the public eye to a spot just a few steps away from President Obama's. A White House source confirmed that Trump ordered them moved, but didn't specify why the portraits were effectively hidden from White House visitors.

But California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom posed his theory for why Trump had it done on social media.

He wrote:

"Small men hide from history’s giants."

People concurred with Newsom's assessment of Trump's motivation—jealousy.

@TexasSundog/X

@namwella1961/X

Online speculation about Trump's reasoning centered primarily on his well documented history of pettiness and his jealousy of anyone more popular or successful than him.

When it comes to the presidency, that's a pretty long list based on polls of historians and the American public.