US President Donald Trump has received a new portrait from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, which has not been publicly displayed, while Trump called the existing portrait of him, which was hung in the Colorado State Capitol until its removal on Monday, the “truly worst” on Truth Social, on Tuesday, the 25th of March, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
The US President has paid much attention to his image and in January he made headlines with his official portrait, which critics have described as ominous.
Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed that he had received the new painting from Moscow and said he had been asked to bring it back to Washington
He described the painting as a “wonderful portrait” by a “leading Russian artist”, but did not elaborate.
He added that Trump was “clearly touched by it”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that the gift was presented as US-Russian negotiators sat down again in Saudi Arabia as Trump sought to end the war in Ukraine.
He said the painting was a “personal gift”, adding that only Putin himself could disclose further details.
The gift underlines the diplomatic thaw between the two countries since Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Wittkoff, who met Putin 10 days ago, said in an interview that the Russian president had been “gracious”. He added that Putin had told him that he had prayed for Trump after the assassination attempt last year.
Trump has not yet publicly commented on the portrait sent by Putin, but he left no doubt about which portraits he likes and dislikes when expressing his opinion on the Colorado painting.
The painting, which was donated to the building in 2019, was “purposefully distorted to a level that even I have probably never seen before”, he wrote on Truth Social on Monday morning.
It was drastically different from the image of Barack Obama, even though they were painted by the same artist, Trump wrote. Complimenting his predecessor, Trump said Obama looked “wonderful”.
The president is laser focused on the big issues pic.twitter.com/0fWfGz6q7b
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2025
As reported, Trump lost up to 13.6 kg during last year’s presidential election campaign. He told reporters that he was “so busy” that he “couldn’t eat much”.
He also used the portrait to make a political point – describing Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado, as “radical” and “extremely weak on crime”.
The US media claimed that the portrait had nothing to do with Polis. Instead, it was the result of a crowdfunding campaign launched by a Republican. It was supposed to replace the empty space where a prankster had briefly placed a picture of Vladimir Putin.
Following the reaction, a bipartisan leadership committee on Monday afternoon ordered the painting to be removed, a Democratic spokesman for the Colorado House of Representatives said. It will be kept in a secure place “until further notice”.