Overview
- A White House spokesperson said President Trump wants a new official portrait that encapsulates both his 45th and 47th terms.
- The National Portrait Gallery said it is unaware of any request for a second painting tied to Trump’s current tenure.
- An oil portrait by the late Ronald Sherr was completed after sittings in 2021 and accepted in 2022, but it has not been displayed.
- The museum typically unveils presidential portraits only once a president has permanently left office, which delayed hanging the Sherr work after Trump launched a 2024 campaign.
- Reporting has documented Trump’s close attention to official imagery, including a Wall Street Journal account of a gold-border reprint request and New York Times coverage of efforts to shape Smithsonian text.