Donald Trump has formally taken his place among American presidents of the past — or at least a portrait of him has.
When the National Portrait Gallery in Washington reopened to visitors Friday after a six-month closure due to COVID-19, its signature “America’s Presidents” exhibit had been updated to feature the 45th president.
The image of Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office was taken in June 2019 by New York-based shutterbug Pari Dukovic, who snapped the shot while on assignment for Time magazine. The next day, Trump formally announced his bid for reelection.
According to the Daily Mail, the Trump photo hangs near former President Barack Obama’s official portrait and opposite the “Hope” poster that became a staple of the 44th president’s campaign iconography.
The image of Trump also hangs opposite a portrait of the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, a staunch Trump critic who once said that the 45th president was not the “legitimate” chief executive.
The accompanying description notes that Trump won the White House in 2016 after “tapping into populist American sentiment” and created “an identity that was antitraditional government and put forth an ‘America First’ agenda.”
The description goes on to note the record number of federal judges nominated by Trump, as well as the Abraham Accords in the Middle East, the former president’s hardline immigration policies, and the rollback of federal regulations.
It also mentions Trump’s two impeachments by the House of Representatives, the coronavirus pandemic (“a key issue during his reelection campaign”) and the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“More Americans voted in the 2020 presidential election than ever before, and the majority elected Joseph R. Biden Jr.,” the description concludes.
“Nevertheless, Trump did not concede, and a mob of his supporters, who refused to accept the results, attacked the U.S. Capitol complex on January 6, 2021, when Congress was working to certify Biden’s win.”
A separate portrait of former first lady Melania Trump hangs in a nearby exhibit on first ladies that will be on view through Sunday.
Trump’s image won’t hang near Obama’s for long. The portraits of the 44th president and former first lady Michelle Obama will be removed from the gallery walls Sunday in preparation for a nationwide tour which will take them to five cities over the next year.
A spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution, which runs the National Portrait Gallery, told Yahoo News that the museum is “moving forward” with a traditional oil painting of Trump.