Why did Donald Trump block the Obamas’ portraits and why was the decision so controversial?

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Portraits of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, and first lady Michelle Obama will finally be unveiled at the White House on Wednesday after their presentation was blocked by his successor in the Oval Office, Donald Trump. Whereas Mr Obama has typically preferred to maintain a dignified silence regarding Mr Trump’s chaotic and tumultuous single term in office, which ended with the US Capitol under siege from insurrectionists goaded on by his false claims of election fraud, the Republican has accused the Democrat of conducting the “biggest political crime in American history”, alluding to the FBI’s Russia investigation into his own victory in 2016, without ever providing any meaningful evidence to support the claim. Barack Obama applauds as George W Bush and his wife Laura see their portraits added to the White House collection on 31 May 2012 “The portrait artists aim to capture each unique appearance and personality, piecing together our presidential history through these individual works of art,” the association reports on its website. “It is something that really does, more than any other act, sort of put your place in history in this building for all the ages and all the people who come through here to see and reflect upon.” Despite Mr Trump’s hostile disregard for tradition, portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama, undertaken by black artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, on 12 February 2018.