Trump demands removal of portrait in Colorado capitol

US President Donald Trump is demanding that his portrait in the Colorado state capitol be taken down, saying he has received complaints about the image and claiming it was “purposefully distorted” to make him look bad.

The portrait was painted during Mr Trump’s first term and unveiled in 2019.

Colorado Republicans raised more than 10,000 dollars (£8,360) through a GoFundMe account to commission the oil painting by Sarah Boardman, who also produced the capitol’s portrait of former president Barack Obama.

One Trump supporter at the time said that the portrait “does him great justice”.

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'Distorted'

But in a Sunday night post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said he would prefer no picture at all over the one that hangs in the Colorado capitol.

“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,” Mr Trump wrote.

Trump's gone on a rampage because he hates this portrait so much. Maybe because it makes him look like JD Vance pic.twitter.com/tRfliy5oPJ

— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) March 24, 2025

The portrait was still up on Monday morning.

Boardman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, but the artist previously told The Denver Post when the portrait was unveiled that it was important that her depictions of both Mr Obama and Mr Trump look “apolitical”.

Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Colorado Democratic governor Jared Polis, said in a statement that the governor was “surprised to learn the President of the United States is an aficionado of our Colorado State Capitol and its artwork”.

“We appreciate the president and everyone’s interest in our capitol building and are always looking for any opportunity to improve our visitor experience,” Wieman continued.

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