Donald Trump portrait he branded 'purposely distorted' to be taken down
The painting by British artist Sarah Boardman has been hanging in Colorado's State Capitol. Mr Trump said a portrait by the same artist of former US president Barack Obama was "wonderful" but "the one on me is truly the worst".
Tuesday 25 March 2025 00:47, UK
A portrait of Donald Trump, which he branded "truly the worst", will be taken down, officials have said.
The US president claimed the portrait by British artist Sarah Boardman, which was hanging in Colorado's State Capitol, was "purposefully distorted".
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, he said: "Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before."
He said a portrait by the same artist of former US president Barack Obama was "wonderful" but "the one on me is truly the worst".
In Colorado, House Democrats said in a statement that the oil painting that attracted Mr Trump's criticism would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the legislature.
"If the GOP (Republican Party) wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the capitol, then that's up to them," the Democrats said.
Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 (£7,700) through a GoFundMe account to commission the oil painting.
Referring to the artist, whose collection of official portraits also includes one of former president George W. Bush, Mr Trump said "she must have lost her talent as she got older".
He then added: "In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one."
Mr Trump's portrait by Boardman has been hanging in the State Capitol since 2019. It is unclear what sparked Mr Trump's complaint on Sunday night.
The criticism of the painting came on the same day that the Kremlin confirmed Vladimir Putin had gifted to Mr Trump a portrait he commissioned of the US president.
Mr Putin gave the painting to Mr Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow earlier this month, the Russian president's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Mr Witkoff told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Mr Trump "was clearly touched" by the portrait, which he described as "beautiful".
Mr Witkoff met Mr Putin after talks with Russian officials about trying to end the war in Ukraine.
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Before the painting in Colorado was removed, Mr Trump had appealed to the "Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis" to take it down.
The 78-year-old said he was speaking on behalf of "many people from Colorado" who were "angry" about the picture and wanted it removed.
The president ended his post saying: "Jared should be ashamed of himself!"
When the portrait was unveiled in 2019, Boardman posted pictures online and said it was a "great day".
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She wrote: "Please remain respectful - this is about portraiture, not politics."
The artist's website states: "Sarah believes that the ultimate challenge is to capture the 'personality, character and soul' of an individual in a two-dimensional format.
"She uses a combination of realism and painterly aspects designed to draw the viewer into piece."