Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama still festively unveiled in the White House | Abroad

The unveiling of the White House portraits normally takes place in the third year of the new president’s term. Barack Obama held a ceremony for George W. Bush in May 2012, who in turn unveiled the paintings of Bill and Hillary Clinton in June 2004. But Barack and Michelle Obama never received an invitation from their successor Donald Trump.

The ceremonial areas of the White House are lined with paintings of former presidents and first ladies. Those are different works than those in the National Portrait Gallery. In 2018, that institute already unveiled the portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama, made by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald. Last year, those paintings toured museums in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

During the unveiling at the White House, the former president and his wife were treated to enthusiastic applause from former Trump executives who left the White House under Trump but were rehired by Biden.

“I know few people with as much integrity, decency and courage as Barack Obama,” Biden, who served as vice president under Obama for eight years, said at the unveiling. “The period that I have been by your side could not have been a better preparation for my role as president.”

Obama also praised the current president. “Thanks to your decency, your strength and your belief in democracy and the American people, the country is much better off now than when you entered the White House,” he said, referring to the turbulent period when Trump did not recover his election defeat. wanted to acknowledge and there was a stampede on the Capitol.

It is still unclear whether Biden will restore the age-old tradition and organize a ceremony in 2024 around the portraits of his Donald Trump and his wife Melania.