‘Take it down’: Trump implores Colorado governor to remove ‘purposefully distorted’ portrait
Posted March 24, 2025 1:34 pm.
Last Updated March 24, 2025 2:44 pm.
U.S. President Donald Trump clearly hates being misrepresented, but his usual indignant cries of “fake news” have taken a back seat to accusations of “fake hues.”
Trump’s ego wasn’t exactly stroked by the brush strokes of an artist commissioned to paint his portrait, which now hangs in the State Capitol Building in Colorado.
In a social media post, Trump called the portrait by artist Sarah Boardman “truly the worst” and suggested that it was “purposely distorted” to make him look bad.
“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,” Trump ranted before accusing the artist of giving former President Barack Obama preferential treatment in the form of a more complimentary rendition.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,” he wrote. “She must have lost her talent as she got older.”
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. The artist also did President Obama,… pic.twitter.com/NIUxU4Ybu8
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 24, 2025
Boardman was commissioned to paint Trump’s portrait in 2018. It was unveiled in 2019, during Trump’s first term.
Boardman discussed the portrait when it was unveiled, saying: “My portrait of President Trump has been called thoughtful, non-confrontational, not angry, not happy, not tweeting. In five, 10, 15, 20 years, he will be another president on the wall who is only historical background and he needs to look neutral.”
Despite the painting being commissioned before Governor Jared Polis was in office, Trump still found a way to blame him.
Polis happens to be a Democrat — a fact not lost on Trump who called him a “radical left governor” who is “extremely weak on crime.”
“Take it down” Trump implored Polis, before adding “Jared should be ashamed of himself!”
