Former President George W. Bush is reportedly hiding an unflattering painting he created that depicts President Donald Trump.
Journalist Jacob Weisberg, author of the bestselling book Bushisms, which chronicled the president’s gaffes, is now “taking aim at Bush’s silence” for not doing more as the only living former Republican president in the Trump era in his newly released book Profiles in Cowardice.
He told The Intelligencer that Bush, who has taken up painting as a hobby in his post-presidential life, has kept the portrait a secret.
Weisberg said that Bush has “painted a really ugly picture of Trump, which he won’t show to anybody.”
“He’s expressing all of his feelings through painting, this kind of art therapy,” he elaborated. “He’s trying to talk about politics and express his feelings without stating them explicitly.”
Weisberg said the painting was similar to that of “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” where, he said, “truth is in the picture.”
The author explained that the hidden portrait symbolizes how Bush has used his post-presidency to hide behind what he calls “a shibboleth which is that presidents have to completely remove themselves from ever commenting.”
He said other former presidents have spoken out about Trump’s policies on occasion, and that he believes “Bush could have done that, and he should have done that,” adding, “but he won’t say Trump’s name.”
Bush’s secret portrait comes as unflattering paintings have already become a sore subject for the self-obsessed president.
Last year, Trump took to Truth Social to rage at Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for hanging up what he viewed as a bad portrait of himself.
“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,” Trump complained.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst. She must have lost her talent as she got older. In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one, but many people from Colorado have called and written to complain,” Trump continued.
He added that the governor should be ashamed of himself for letting it happen.
The Trump White House later donated an approved portrait to the Colorado state capitol. The replacement portrait appears to be a painting of Trump’s official photograph, where he has a menacing facial expression.
