The long-held
tradition seems to span back to the 1970s. It sees current presidents attending
the unveiling ceremony of the portraits of their predecessors and their wives
during their first term.
Barack and
Michelle Obama’s presidential and first lady portraits will not be unveiled and
hung in the White House until Donald Trump is out of office.
It was revealed
on Tuesday morning, May 19 that the tradition of previous presidents returning
to the White House to meet with their successor to unveil their portraits, will
be skipped.
At the past
unveiling ceremonies, the former president, first lady, staff and close friends
and family are able to mingle with the current White House occupant and his
administration and family.
However, as
Trump’s first term comes to an end, people familiar with the matter told NBC
that the unveiling of the Obamas’ portraits will not happen during Trump’s
presidency due to the bitter feud between Trump and Obama.
If Trump wins
a second term in November, Obama may have to wait until 2025 to have his
portrait revealed and displayed in the White House among every U.S. president
before him.
According to
inside reports, Obama has no interest in participating in the post-presidency
tradition as long as Trump is in office and Trump has no qualms with snubbing a
presidential custom.
This will be
the first time in years that this tradition will be skipped. The tradition held
even for past American presidents who have issued harsh criticism of each other
or ousted the other from office in sour races.
Jimmy Carter
welcomed Gerald Ford and his wife Betty back to the White House just four years
after Carter had defeated Ford in his reelection bid for the first formal East
Room ceremony in 1980.
And after
George H. W. Bush lost reelection, Bill Clinton still hosted Bush in the East
Room, saying “Welcome home.”
When Obama
hosted former President George W. Bush for his portrait unveiling in 2012, he
said: “We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends
those differences.”
It appears
Trump and Obama will not be able to move past their differences for the
tradition to hold this time.
The break
from tradition comes as Trump and Obama have recently upped their public
attacks toward one another.
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