Fact Check: Did Donald Trump replace Hillary Clinton’s portrait in White House with his own?
The viral photo that inspired the rumor
It all started with a post on X (formerly Twitter) from Reuters’ White House correspondent Jeff Mason. Mason shared a photo showing a portrait of an artistic impression of Trump with red, white, and blue face paint, hanging right between the portraits of former first ladies Laura Bush and Pat Nixon in the East Wing.
That was all it took for online sleuths to start drawing their own conclusions.
Posts on Facebook and even more X reactions followed, all claiming Trump had replaced Hillary’s portrait with his own. The narrative appeared to gain traction as many believed Trump had booted Clinton’s face off the White House walls.
But while the Trump portrait is hanging there, that doesn’t mean it took Hillary’s spot. According to Snopes, the whole “Trump replaced Hillary” narrative is flat-out false.
The real timeline
Snopes couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the Trump portrait was hung in the East Wing, but they confirmed that HillaryClinton’s portrait was still up after Trump’s had already been added.
On May 21, Reuters posted a photo showing Trump’s portrait up on the wall next to Hillary’s. One day later, on May 22, Arizona Senator Janae Shamp shared a pic of herself proudly standing by Trump’s portrait. Clinton’s portrait was right there in plain view, hanging beside his.
But on June 18 — the same day Jeff Mason’s post went live — a photo surfaced on Getty Images that showed Clinton’s portrait was gone.
The Getty caption read, “A portrait of President Donald Trump with a U.S. flag on his face is hung between portraits of former first ladies Laura Bush and Patricia Nixon in the East Wing’s Visitor Foyer on June 18, 2025, in Washington, DC.”
Clinton’s portrait had indeed vanished from that wall. But it wasn’t Trump who took her spot. It was Pat Nixon.
By comparing Senator Shamp’s photo with the Getty image, it’s clear that the benches underneath the portraits match. They have the same length, placement, and design, which means Hillary’s portrait didn’t make way for Trump’s but for another first lady.
Where is Hillary Clinton’s portrait now?
It’s worth noting that Hillary Clinton wasn’t erased from the White House archives—her portrait is just out on a little vacation.
Turns out, her portrait (along with Bill’s) is currently on loan to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum confirmed it’s part of a new exhibition called “Portraits from a Presidency,” which runs until December 7 this year.
According to the Clinton Presidential Center’s website, the show features “two- and three-dimensional portraits of the Clinton family members, including more than 50 paintings, sculptures, engravings, and photographs.”
The exhibit proudly includes “the official White House portraits of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, on loan from the White House Historical Association/White House Collection.” The site added, “The Clintons selected artist Simmie Knox to paint their portraits. He was the first African American to receive a presidential portrait commission.”
Snopes even confirmed with the White House press office via email that the portraits are indeed on loan. It checks out since the exhibit launched on June 14, just days before the photos started going viral and gave birth to the swapped-portrait myth.
