Donald Trump has ignited fresh controversy after installing blunt, often insulting plaques beneath portraits of former US presidents at the White House.
The display, dubbed a “Presidential Walk of Fame” by Trump, lines the colonnade connecting the West Wing to the White House residence.
Each plaque supposedly offers a snapshot of a former president’s record and legacy.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the project, insisting the descriptions were deliberately straightforward.
“The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each President and the legacy they left behind,” she said.
“As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself.”
An introductory plaque states the exhibit was “conceived, built, and dedicated by President Donald J. Trump as a tribute to past Presidents, good, bad, and somewhere in the middle.”
Critics say many inscriptions cross the line from historical assessment into personal attacks, particularly those targeting President Joe Biden.
Biden’s section delivers the harshest criticism. One plaque labels him “Sleepy Joe” and claims he was “by far, the worst President in American History.”
In an especially provocative choice, Trump replaced Biden’s portrait with an image of an autopen, widely seen as a dig at Biden’s age and mental sharpness.
Biden is also the only former president displayed without a gilded frame.
The plaques accuse Biden of taking office through “the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States” and blame his administration for inflation, immigration issues, and energy policy failures.
They criticize the Afghanistan withdrawal as “among the most humiliating events in American History,” referencing the deaths of 13 US service members during the 2021 evacuation.
Trump’s commentary connects Biden’s leadership to global instability: “Seeing Biden’s devastating weakness, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas terrorists launched the heinous October 7th attack on Israel,” one plaque reads.
Another highlights Biden’s stumbling 2024 debate performance, claiming he was “forced to withdraw from his campaign for re-election in disgrace.”
Former President Barack Obama also faces sharp criticism. His plaque uses his full name “Barack Hussein Obama” and labels him “one of the most divisive figures in American history.”
Trump attacks Obama’s healthcare reform as the “highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act” and slams major foreign policy moves, including the Iran nuclear deal and Paris Climate Agreement.
The plaque revives Trump’s longstanding claims that Obama spied on his 2016 campaign and oversaw the “Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.”
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