A PRESIDENTIAL portrait of Donald Trump will be removed from a US state capitol just a day after the president blasted the work.
Trump railed against the picture in a Truth Social rant, claiming it was “purposefully distorted” and berating the artist behind the portrait.
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Amid the outcry, Republican lawmakers requested the painting to be removed.
“If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them,” Democrats said.
Colorado Senate Republicans told the CBS affiliate KKTV that removing the portrait is in line with tradition.
“The removal of this portrait was made to honor pre-existing tradition: President Grover Cleveland only received one portrait that depicts him during his second term,” they claimed.
GOP leaders say they want a portrait that resembles Trump more.
The portrait will now be stored in the History Colorado museum in Denver.
It’s not yet known if another Trump portrait will be commissioned.
The nature of the picture sparked division among visitors to the Colorado State Capitol.
“Honestly he looks a little chubby,” Aaron Howe, a tourist from Wyoming, told Politico.
But, others thought Trump looked fine.
“I guess he’s smoother than all the other ones,” Trump fan Kaylee Williamson, 18, told the outlet.
On Truth Social, Trump lashed out at Sarah Boardman – the artist behind the portrait – claiming she lost talent as she aged.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,” he wrote.
“She must have lost her talent as she got older.”
Boardman defended the painting, stressing that the president needed to look neutral.
“My portrait of President Trump has been called thoughtful, non-confrontational, not angry, not happy, not tweeting,” she said.
“In five, 10, 15, 20 years, he will be another president on the wall who is only historical background and he needs to look neutral.”
Boardman claimed she takes personal feelings out of artwork when she produces a piece.
The British artist also painted the Colorado Capitol’s portrait of Barack Obama.
Trump also lashed out at Colorado governor Jared Polis in his Truth Social tirade, claiming he should be “ashamed.”
In his first official presidential portrait, Trump beamed for the cameras, while in his second, he looked steely-eyed.
The second portrait resembles his mugshot, taken after he was arrested in Georgia in August 2023 as part of an electoral interference probe.
Trump scowled in the historic picture in what was the first-ever mugshot of a US president.
It was one of four indictments leveled against Trump after he left office in 2021.
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