The Story Behind Donald Trump’s Viral Portrait Hanging In The White House Explained

An odd painting appeared in the background of the 60-minute interview with Donald Trump.

The art piece showcases Trump and former Republican presidents such as Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Dwight Eisenhower, and Gerald Ford all crowding around a table, having drinks, looking joyful.

The painting named “The Republican Club” by artist Andy Thomas was displayed in a prominent position on the wall in the White House. Trump enjoyed the painting so much that he called Thomas. “He basically said, ‘most portraits of me I really don’t like,'” Thomas recalls, “And he’s right. He’s hard to paint. There’s some bad ones out there.”

After briefly speaking about the painting, Trump steered the conversation in a different direction, asking Thomas how he was doing as president and what his friends and neighbors think about him, as well as how he thinks the heated Senate race between Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill and pro-Trump Republican Josh Hawley will end, according to Time.

“I’m thinking, ‘I’m a damn artist, what is he asking me about this for?” Thomas says.

Unclear of how the painting got into the Trump’s hands, Thomas was still surprised, “I was ecstatic, a lot of times gifts aren’t really hung up, they’re just pushed in a closet somewhere. To find out it’s actually hanging is really a treat,” he told TIME.

Andy Thomas has painted a similar portrait featuring former President Barack Obama conversing and having drinks with other Democratic presidents.