New Trump-approved portrait to be hung in the Colorado State Capitol
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – A new official portrait of President Donald Trump, approved by the White House and donated by Trump himself, will soon hang in the Colorado State Capitol, replacing an earlier version the president claimed was “purposefully distorted.”
The new painting, created by Tempe, Arizona-based artist Vanessa Horabuena, closely resembles Trump’s current official photograph for his second term in office.
It's set to be hung in the Capitol’s Gallery of Presidents on Friday.
The portrait replaces a previous painting completed by Colorado Springs-based artist Sarah Boardman. Boardman's painting had been up since 2019 after Colorado Senate Republicans raised $10,000 to commission it during Trump's first term in office.
However, it was taken down after Trump publicly criticized it back in March, writing on Truth Social: "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."
READ MORE: Portrait of President Trump will be removed from Colorado Capitol
Boardman, who also painted former President Barack Obama’s portrait for the Capitol, refuted Trump's claims of purposeful distortion, saying that her reference photo and subsequent works in progress were all approved by the Colorado State Capitol Advisory Committee before the final painting was completed.
She also said the president's claims had put her 41-year career in jeopardy.
The new portrait's installation may be temporary, however. Our Denver news affiliate, KUSA, reports that the Capitol Building Advisory Committee is considering replacing all presidential portraits to make room for portraits of Colorado’s governors, which are not all currently on display.
The committee is scheduled to meet in September to discuss moving the portraits.
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