News, White House Report

Trump Breaking White House Tradition of Unveiling Presidential Portraits

April Ryan
May 20, 2020

In this Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump talks with former President Barack Obama on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to Obama's departure to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Trump relentlessly congratulates himself for the healthy state of the U.S. economy. But in the year since Trump’s inauguration, most analysts tend to agree on this: The economy remains essentially the same sturdy one he inherited from Obama. (Rob Carr/Pool Photo via AP, File)

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Is this another attempt at diverting attention from the pandemic? Is it jealousy? Is it racism?

President Trump is breaking a 40 year tradition by refusing to unveil portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House. Portrait unveiling has always crossed party lines where current the current president welcomes their predecessor for the ceremony. Instead, Trump is pushing and “Obamagate” narrative claiming Obama “committed the biggest political crime in American history.”

Click ▶️ to listen to AURN Washington Bureau Chief April Ryan’s White House Report:

April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House, a position she has held with AURN since the Clinton era. Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her heightened insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation. April has written three books; The Presidency in Black & White: My Close-Up View of Three Presidents and Race in America, At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White, and Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. Twitter: @aprildryan