New White House plaques attack Trump’s Democratic predecessors, Bush

Summary

• The White House added plaques criticising Democratic presidents beneath their photos on Trump's "Presidential Walk of Fame".
• Plaques target Biden ("worst President"), Clinton (Hillary's loss to Trump), Obama ("divisive"), and even Republican Bush (Iraq & Afghanistan wars).
• Press secretary Leavitt called the plaques "eloquent," noting Trump wrote many, reflecting his combative style and rewritten history.

WASHINGTON - The White House has installed new plaques beneath photos of former leaders on President Donald Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House that sharply criticise his Democratic predecessors.

The plaques are a striking addition because both Republicans and Democrats have traditionally viewed the historic building as a symbol of national unity.

Mr Trump, however, has not shied from using the White House as a stage for his more combative style of politics and for rewriting history.

The plaque beneath president Joe Biden’s photo reads: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American history.”

It falsely accuses Mr Biden of winning the “most corrupt election ever” and claims he made “unprecedented use of the autopen.”

Mr Biden, whom Mr Trump succeeded this year, is the only president not to have a portrait and is instead represented by a photo of an autopen, a mechanical device that replicates a signature with a pen or other writing implement.

Another plaque refers to “Barack Hussein Obama,” the first black US president, and describes the two-term president as “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”

Many US presidential historians view Mr Trump as the most polarising in US history.

The plaque accompanying Mr Bill Clinton’s photo reads: “In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!”

The “Presidential Walk of Fame” is a recent addition during Mr Trump’s second term, featuring portraits of past presidents displayed along corridors between the Oval Office and the South Lawn.

Even former president George W. Bush, a fellow Republican but not a Trump supporter, does not escape criticism. His plaque says Mr Bush started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, “both of which should not have happened.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the plaques were an “eloquent” description of each president’s legacy.

“As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself,” she said in a statement.

The changes are part of broader changes to White House decor under Mr Trump, including an expanded use of gold-coloured accents and gilded fixtures reminiscent of Trump Tower in New York and the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. REUTERS