US President Joe Biden will revive the presidential portrait tradition, which was ditched by his predecessor Donald Trump, NBC reported, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the outlet, Biden, who served as vice president under Barack Obama for eight years, plans to unveil a portrait of the 44th president, a move President Trump reportedly refused to do due to his contentious relationship with Obama.
"They’re virtually done", a person familiar with the matter told NBC, commenting on the Obama portraits.
According to NBC, the ceremony is unlikely to be held this summer, as normally such events gather hundreds of guests, something that is not allowed now due to the coronavirus restrictions. Another source told the outlet that the portrait unveiling is not on either Biden or Obama's schedule, hinting that the event will be postponed until next year.
Trump's Portrait
If Joe Biden plans to revive the tradition, he would also have to unveil a portrait of Donald Trump. But NBC writes that Trump is unlikely to attend such an event due to the strained relations between the two politicians. Trump claimed for months that Biden won the 2020 presidential election because it was rigged by the Democrats. The Republican has also launched multiple scathing attacks on the Democrat, including on his family.
Media reports say that if Biden goes on with the unveiling of the portrait, the Republican may skip the event just as he did when he broke a more than a century-old tradition of attending the inauguration of his successor.