Trump’s GOP-funded Colorado Capitol portrait will be taken down after he complained that it’s “distorted”

President Donald Trump has strong feelings about his official portrait at the Colorado State Capitol — and they aren’t positive. 

As a result, the painting on in the presidential gallery in the Capitol’s third floor rotunda will be removed, per a decision by Capitol leadership.

This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.

The president posted on his Truth Social social media site over the weekend that the painting was “purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before.”

The portrait was unveiled in 2019. Prominent Colorado Republicans, including the former state Senate President, raised the money to pay for it.

Trump said the painting, which depicts him in his signature blue suit and red tie, is “truly the worst.”

“I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one, but many people from Colorado have called and written to complain. In fact, they are actually angry about it!” he wrote.

The Executive Committee of the Legislative Council decided Monday to remove the painting and store it “until further notice.”

Colorado Democrats panned the drama.

“Republican leadership asked for it to be taken down,” a spokesman for the Colorado House Democrat said in a written statement. “The speaker and majority leader are focused on keeping Coloradans safe and reducing costs, not hanging portraits. If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them.”

How the painting came to be

In his post, Trump blamed Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, for the — in his view — unflattering image and used the opportunity to take swipes at him over crime and immigration. However, Polis played no role in the painting’s creation.

Funding for the Capitol’s presidential portraits doesn’t come from the state budget but from public donations. In Trump’s case, Republicans raised $11,000 to pay for the painting and Colorado Springs-based artist Sarah A. Boardman won the commission. She had previously painted the state’s portrait of President Barack Obama (which Trump said “looks wonderful”).

For the Trump portrait, she submitted a range of photographs to the Capitol Building Advisory Committee, a body made up of state lawmakers, public officials, historians and architects.

At the portrait’s unveiling, Boardman spoke with CPR News about how she chose to depict the then-former president. 

“My portrait of President Trump has been called thoughtful, non-confrontational, not angry, not happy, not tweeting,” Boardman joked. “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.”

At the time, Jerry Grotkier, a Trump supporter who came from Colorado Springs for the unveiling, said “this is a big deal to have President Trump’s picture up with all the other presidents.”

“Based on the flavor of the politics here in the Capitol, it’s a big deal to have Trump’s face here in the nest of insanity that’s going on,” he said.

The crowd-funding effort for Trump’s portrait took off after a prank — a Democratic legislative staffer allowed members of ProgressNow Colorado to sneak in a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin and place it near the spot reserved for Trump. 

Stories about the prank noted no donations had come in yet for an official Trump portrait, leading Republican state Sen. Kevin Grantham to spearhead an effort to get private funding for the painting. Grantham, who is now a Fremont County Commissioner, didn’t immediately respond to a request from CPR News about Trump’s concerns.

In his post, Trump called on Polis to take his portrait down. But it’s not clear what the process would be to change out a presidential portrait at the Capitol.

“I’m not aware of a time when a concern like this has been raised. I have not received a formal request to change the portrait at this time,” Democratic Rep. William Lindstedt of Broomfield, the current vice-chair of the Capitol Building Advisory Committee, said in a text to CPR News. But he said he was looking into the process.

For his part, a spokesperson for 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.”

Colorado Sun reporter Jesse Paul contributed to this report.

This story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.