TSR Politics: Donald Trump is apparently willing to let his strong dislike for former President Barack Obama reportedly move him to break a decades-old White House tradition.
For the past 40 years, it’s been a tradition that the acting president hosts a ceremony in the East Room during their first term, for the unveiling of the official portrait of his immediate predecessor that will hang in the halls of the White House forever.
Republican presidents have done it for Democratic presidents, and vice versa, even when tensions were high. But now it seems that this ritual won’t be taking place between Obama and Trump, according to NBC News.
And if Trump wins a second term in November, it could be 2025 before Obama returns to the White House to see his portrait displayed among every U.S. president ever, from Bush down to George Washington.
Trump is reportedly unconcerned about shunning yet another presidential custom, and he has attacked Obama to an extent no other president has done to a predecessor. Most recently, Trump has made unfounded accusations that Obama committed an unspecified crime using the term “Obamagate.”
Obama, for his part, has no interest in participating in the post-presidency rite of passage so long as Trump is in office, according to people familiar with the matter.
But Obama participated in the tradition when he replaced former President George W. Bush.
“We may have our differences politically,” President Barack Obama said when he hosted Bush for his portrait unveiling in 2012, “but the presidency transcends those differences.”
Katie Hill, a spokesperson for Obama, declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment on the matter. We’ll keep you posted on any updates regarding this White House tradition.
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
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