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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Portraits - Washington, DC

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

Political observers have long noted that President Donald Trump and his rise to power came on the heels of his freewheeling and often contentious stances against his political opposition. In recent weeks, the divide has grown as chatter is brewing that Trump may elect not to unveil his predecessor President Barack Obama‘s presidential portrait, which would disrupt a decades-log tradition.

A report from NBC News highlights the potential for Trump to bypass the ceremonial display of the portrait inside the White House, an act Obama himself partook of when unveiling his predecessor President George W. Bush’s portrait. However, Trump has made it clear that he is no friend of Obama or his past policies, and has adopted stances from conservative pundits and groups who believe that the former senator is guilty of crimes that Trump has vaguely described as “Obamagate.”

From NBC News:

Yet this modern ritual won’t be taking place between Obama and President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. 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 from George Washington to Bush.

Trump is 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 he’s made unfounded accusations that Obama committed an unspecified crime.

Obama, for his part, has no interest in participating in the post-presidency rite of passage so long as Trump is in office, the people familiar with the matter said.

Read the full piece here.

Photo: Getty