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Trump’s petty quest to rewrite history now stains White House walls



In one of the more revealing acts of his second term, President Donald Trump
has turned the exterior of the White House into a vehicle for grievance.

The Trump White House has installed a series of new plaques along what it
calls the “Presidential Walk of Fame,” an exhibit in the colonnade that pairs
portraits of U.S. presidents with written summaries of their administrations.
In theory, it’s a historical display—but it reads more like a petty partisan
manifesto—one that flatters Trump lavishly while mocking his recent Democratic
predecessors and promoting long-debunked falsehoods about their presidencies.




 



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The project also fits into a broader effort by the Trump administration to
reshape official narratives elsewhere in government—from proposed changes to
Smithsonian exhibits to revisions of National Park Service materials and
Pentagon-linked history websites—often blurring the line between historical
interpretation and political messaging.

The plaques, which were mounted beneath portraits already on display, vary
sharply in tone depending on the subject’s party—effusive and
self-congratulatory for Trump, openly derisive for Presidents Joe Biden and
Barack Obama.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to NBC News that Trump
had a direct hand in the project.

“The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each President and the
legacy they left behind,” she said in a statement. “As a student of history,
many were written directly by the President himself.”

That authorship shows.

The plaque beneath Biden’s portrait—replaced, conspicuously, with an autopen
stand-in—refers to him as “Sleepy Joe Biden” and declares him “the worst
President in American History.” It also accuses Biden of “severe mental
decline,” references the “Biden Crime Family,” and blames unnamed “Radical Left
handlers” for running the country in his stead.

It also asserts that Biden took office “as a result of the most corrupt
Election ever seen in the United States,” reviving Trump’s false claims about
the 2020 election.

The plaque even references Biden’s poor performance in the 2024 debate,
stating that after his “humiliating debate loss to President Trump,” he was
“forced to withdraw from his campaign for re-election in disgrace.”

Obama’s plaque follows a similar pattern. It uses his full name—“Barack
Hussein Obama,” a formulation long favored in right-wing circles—and calls him
“one of the most divisive figures in American history.” It describes the
Affordable Care Act as the “highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act,”
criticizes the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accords, and repeats
Trump’s conspiracy theory that Obama “spied” on his 2016 campaign and
orchestrated the “Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.”

Notably absent is any acknowledgment that Obama remains the most favorably
viewed living former president.

Other former presidents fare somewhat better—though not without a Trumpian
twist. Bill Clinton’s plaque pivots to the fact that Trump defeated his wife,
Hillary Clinton, in 2016.

Jimmy Carter’s entry is more charitable, noting the inflation and economic
strain of his presidency before adding that he was widely seen as more
successful after leaving office, citing his humanitarian work.





 



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Ronald Reagan’s plaque, by contrast, is glowing, concluding with the assertion
that “he was a fan of President Donald J. Trump long before President Trump’s
Historic run for the White House. Likewise, President Trump was a fan of his!”

Trump’s own plaques are, unsurprisingly, triumphalist. The entry for his
first term credits him with everything from “the Largest Tax Cuts in History”
to building “the Greatest Economy in the History of the World.” The second-term
plaque boasts of sweeping tariffs, hard-line immigration policies, the removal
of “Critical Race Theory and transgender insanity from public schools,” and the
banning of “men from women’s sports.”

It also touts projects still underway—or entirely symbolic—including the
construction of a “Golden Dome missile defense shield,” renaming the Gulf of
Mexico, and the addition of a new White House ballroom.

The entry closes on a familiar refrain: “THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

Reaction on Capitol Hill has ranged from discomfort to outright irritation.
Even many Republicans appeared uneasy with the display.

“I’m really disturbed by that,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told NBC.

Even Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s most reliable
allies, waved it off as a distraction.

“I don’t think that’s going to move the ball for us,” Graham said. “There may
be some amusement there. But the bottom line is, if we lose the House, he’s
going to get impeached. We need to focus on fixing people’s problems.”

The plaques are just the latest physical imprint Trump has left on the White
House. They sit near the redesigned Rose Garden and adjacent to the East Wing,
which was demolished to make way for a planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom—an
addition that preservationists warn could overwhelm the historic mansion.

Taken as a whole, the plaques say less about the presidents they describe
than about the one who commissioned them. Trump’s White House is being reshaped
to reflect his instincts—turning even its walls into tools for grievance and
self-praise.

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