President Donald Trump has moved the official portrait of former President Barack Obama to an area of the White House generally closed to visitors, CNN reported Sunday.
The portrait is now displayed at the top of the Grand Staircase, positioned alongside portraits of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
According to CNN, which obtained a photograph of the new placement, the location is not typically accessible to the public.
BREAKING: President Trump has moved the official portrait of former President Barack Obama in a “hidden” stairwell in the White House, per CNN. pic.twitter.com/rWee7pRYFu
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) August 10, 2025
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This marks the second relocation of Obama’s portrait during Trump’s current term.
In April, Trump moved the portrait in exchange for a photo depicting the immediate aftermath of the July 2024 assassination attempt he survived in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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The relocation comes as former President Obama faces heightened scrutiny from the Trump administration following the release of declassified intelligence documents.
On July 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released records and a memo alleging that Obama’s national security team “manufactured and politicized intelligence” as part of what she described as a “years-long coup” against Trump after his victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Speaking at a July 23 White House press briefing, Gabbard said she had referred Obama to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges connected to the origins of the Russia collusion narrative, asserting that Obama “led the manufacturing” of the assessment that Russia interfered in 2016 to benefit Trump.
The matter ties into previous investigative findings.
In May 2023, Special Counsel John Durham released his final report on the FBI’s investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Durham concluded the FBI “did not and could not corroborate” the claims outlined in the Steele Dossier, which had been used to obtain surveillance warrants targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and others.
Testimony from FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten during an October 2022 trial revealed that the FBI offered former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele $1 million if he could substantiate the dossier’s claims. Steele did not do so.
More recently, CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey to the FBI in July for possible criminal charges.
The referral alleged that both men made false statements to Congress related to the Russia investigation.
The FBI subsequently launched a criminal probe into Brennan and Comey.
While details remain limited, the investigation is focused on testimony regarding the origins and handling of intelligence connected to the 2016 election.
Brennan, appearing on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, denied any misconduct, telling host Nicolle Wallace that the CIA “stayed true” and did not attempt to influence the 2016 election during the Obama administration.
The combination of the portrait’s relocation and the ongoing investigations underscores the growing tension between the current administration and key figures from the Obama era as multiple federal probes move forward.