A bust of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that former President Barack Obama moved into the Oval Office has been moved out by President Donald Trump, causing backlash on social media.
White House officials confirmed Trump moved the bronze bust, which by definition is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human body, into a private dining room, used for private meetings and lunches with senior staff. Adding “interior decorator” to his résumé, the Oval Office now holds remnants of gold ornaments surrounding door frames, gold figurines on the fireplace mantle, and a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence hidden behind blue velvet curtains.
A bust of Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was also moved back in on Trump’s first day back at the White House, according to USA Today.
The bust of King remained in place during Trump’s first term, prompting critics to question why the change is suddenly occurring. Social media users criticized the incumbent president for his efforts to reverse decisions made under the Biden-Harris administration and other Democratic administrations. In mid-June 2025, Trump announced he would be reinstating the names of seven Army bases named after Confederate soldiers. The announcement was made during an appearance at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, changed to Fort Liberty by Joe Biden.
Users like @uncatfishable touched on the hypocrisy the President is showing after years of claiming he isn’t a racist. “Last week it was renaming Forts to confederate names. This week it’s removing MLK bust from the Oval Office,” he wrote.
“But sure he isn’t racist.”
@RichardAngwin called the statue removal a “disgusting slap in the face.”
“Trump’s removal of MLK Jr.’s bust from the Oval Office is a disgusting slap in the face to civil rights, exposing his deep-seated racism and disdain for equality,” Angwin said.
Other comments alluded to Trump “Keeping the Klan happy,” and “These evil men need to be purged from our national government. By any means necessary.”
Among several other reasons, this may have contributed to Trump being the first president not invited to the NAACP National Convention in 116 years.
The bust found its home in the Oval Office after the country’s first African American president was sworn in, relocating it from the White House library. Previously, the image was on loan from the Smithsonian and arrived at the library in 2000, during the second term of former President Clinton.
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