*President Donald Trump has shifted a bronze bust of civil rights icon Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office to his private dining room, a White House official confirmed to USA TODAY.
The bust, originally placed in the Oval Office by former President Barack Obama in 2009, now resides steps away from its former location, where Trump conducts private meetings and lunches with senior staff.
This change accompanies other Oval Office alterations, including gold ornaments, figurines, and a framed Declaration of Independence behind blue velvet curtains.
The King bust, crafted by Black artist Charles Alston in 1970 for $5,000 and on loan from the Smithsonian, was first introduced to the White House library in 2000 under President Bill Clinton. Obama relocated it to the Oval Office upon taking office.
Meanwhile, Trump reinstated a bust of Winston Churchill, sculpted by Sir Jacob Epstein, to the Oval Office on January 20, fulfilling a promise from his first term. Obama had previously moved the Churchill bust to the White House’s Treaty Room.
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The decision to move King’s bust has drawn sharp criticism. The NAACP, a leading civil rights organization, announced it will not invite Trump to its July 2025 National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, breaking a 116-year tradition of inviting every sitting U.S. president.
“This has nothing to do with political party,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “Our mission is to advance civil rights, and the current president has made clear that his mission is to eliminate civil rights.”
The NAACP cited Trump’s executive orders dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, proposed cuts to Medicare and education, mass immigration raids, and the use of military force against protesters as reasons for the exclusion.
Vice President J.D. Vance was also excluded from the invitation.
The relocation of King’s bust, paired with these policies, has intensified debates about Trump’s stance on civil rights.
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