A portrait of President Trump at the Colorado state house will soon be taken down after the president lashed out against Democrats in the state and the woman who painted the artwork back in 2019, saying that the image of him was unflattering and “distorted.” The painting is so bad that Mr. Trump says he would rather have no portrait at all, as opposed to the current one. 

According to the Associated Press, leaders in Colorado made the decision to take down the painting on Monday after a tirade by the president on Sunday night. 

“If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them,” Democrats in the Colorado legislature said in a statement Monday. They agreed to take the painting down at the urging of their GOP colleagues. 

Every president of the United States currently has a portrait hanging in the Colorado state house, and while Mr. Trump’s portrait was put up more than five years ago — back in August 2019 — he said it was so unflattering that it ought to be removed. 

“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 in a lengthy Truth Social tirade on Sunday. “The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst.”

At first glance, the portrait of Mr. Trump now hanging in the state capitol seems fairly accurate, capturing his signature large tie knot, his hair, and most of his facial features. The lower half of his face, however, appears bloated and smooth, almost as if he had been punched in the jaw or if he had had a root canal operation. 

Someone apparently tipped Mr. Trump off to the presidential portrait in Colorado, saying in his Truth Social post that “many people” have complained to him. 

“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. In fact, they are actually angry about it!” he writes. 

Mr. Trump further says that Governor Polis — a two-term Democrat who will leave office next year — should be “ashamed” of the painting. 

“I am speaking on their behalf to the Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on Crime, in particular with respect to Tren de Aragua, which practically took over Aurora (Don’t worry, we saved it!), to take it down. Jared should be ashamed of himself!” Mr. Trump says. 

Mr. Trump immediately followed his screed against the Colorado painting by posting his official presidential portraits from his first and second terms — the first being of him with a broad smile during a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2017, and the second being Mr. Trump’s now-infamous grimacing stare that mirrors his 2023 mugshot from Georgia. 

In 2018, as the Colorado state government was trying to raise the thousands of dollars needed to commission the very painting Mr. Trump wants taken down, a liberal activist group decided to mock the then-45th president by putting up a portrait of President Putin the capitol rotunda where Mr. Trump’s portrait would eventually hang. 

The woman responsible for the newly maligned portrait of Mr. Trump is Colorado Springs-based painter Sarah Boardman, told the Denver Post at the original 2019 unveiling that she wanted Mr. Trump to have a simple, straightforward look about him because she did not want to seem political. She said she put a similarly muted expression on President Obama’s face when she painted that portrait, too. 

“In today’s environment it’s all very upfront, but in another five, 10, 15 years he will be another president on the wall,” Ms. Boardman said. “And he needs to look neutral.”

Ms. Boardman sat down for an interview with the Colorado Times Recorder as she was working on the portrait in 2019. She swore that her personal feelings about Mr. Trump would have no impact on her artwork, just like they had not affected her portrait of Mr. Obama. 

When I start to paint a portrait, it is the portrait, likeness, and ‘essence’ of the subject which I strive to portray,” Ms. Boardman said. “Any personal feelings about any subject are not relevant and are left outside the studio.”

She further said that the neutral expression on the president’s face — the very visage Mr. Trump despises — won the praise of fellow Coloradans while she was working. 

“The most supportive comments I have heard are in reference to the neutrality of his expression, and how it should appeal to viewers of all stripes, over time. A portrait is not a political statement, but a representation of a human being,” Ms. Boardman said.