Donald Trump has his eye on the ball. Still in the first 100 days of his second term, the president took time out of his busy schedule on Sunday to complain about a portrait of himself that has appeared in the state capitol in Colorado and to rip the Democratic governor, whom he considers responsible.
It’s an odd story, as it appears that Trump’s portrait was added to Colorado’s Gallery of Presidents in 2019, almost six years ago. It was even a local controversy at the time, as Colorado Citizens for Culture, a group tasked with raising money for the Trump portrait, had not done so. Therefore, a Republican former Senate president launched a crowdfunding effort that was ultimately successful.
However, Trump has not noticed or commented on the portrait until now.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,” Trump said on Truth Social Sunday, adding that Barack Obama’s portrait, next to the Trump one, looks “wonderful.”
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“Many people from Colorado have called and written to complain. In fact, they are actually angry about it! I am speaking on their behalf to the Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on Crime, in particular with respect to Tren de Aragua, which practically took over Aurora (Don’t worry, we saved it!), to take it down,” Trump wrote.
It’s unclear why Trump blames Polis for the portrait, and whether the current governor has the power to take it down is unclear.
Sarah Boardman is the artist who painted both Obama and Trump and told the Denver Post that it was important that both portraits come across as “apolitical.”
During the original controversy, back in 2018, some staffers even pulled a prank where they snuck in a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the place where Trump’s would have been. The alleged ringleader of the scheme, an aide to the House Speaker, was disciplined for the stunt, which made news internationally.
The saga of how the Putin portrait ended up in the state Capitol in place of the Trump portrait was one of the stranger stories I’ve covered. https://t.co/HtR5rv2x3j
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) March 24, 2025
Photo courtesy of Truth Social screenshot.
