Trump Insults Past Presidents With Disturbing New Plaques

Since the start of his second term, Trump has reshaped parts of the White House to reflect his own political narrative, including the creation of what he calls the Presidential Walk of Fame. Unveiled several months earlier, the installation features a corridor lined with portraits of former presidents of the United States, presented as a visual sequence of the office’s history. The display drew attention for a jarring exception: Joe Biden was left out and replaced with an image of an autopen, a move that read as a direct provocation. Trump has now escalated that approach by adding descriptive plaques beneath the portraits, extending the concept beyond imagery and turning the corridor into a more pointed set of messages about past presidents.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt publicly embraced the confrontational tone of the new plaques, saying in a statement that «many were written directly by the President himself», confirming that Donald Trump personally authored part of the language now displayed beneath the portraits. A brief look at the inscriptions makes that authorship immediately apparent, as the plaques abandon any pretense of neutrality in favor of blunt political attacks and self-praise. Joe Biden is labeled with familiar epithets such as «Sleepy» and «Crooked», Barack Obama is described as «one of the most divisive» figures to hold the office, while Trump’s own entry veers sharply in the opposite direction, praising his presidency as delivering «the Greatest Economy in the History».

Beneath the image of an autopen used to stand in for Joe Biden’s presidency, the plaque delivers one of the display’s harshest attacks, declaring: «Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History.» It goes on to accuse Biden of «Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States» and of having taken «our Nation to the Brink of destruction.», while listing as supposed hallmarks of his tenure the «Green New Scam» and the «Afghanistan Disaster». The text also claims he allowed «21 million people from all over the world» to enter the country, including people «from prisons, jails, mental institutions, and insane asylums.». It further assigns blame to Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, extending the plaque’s scope from domestic policy insults into sweeping allegations about global events.

Under the plaque, Trump extends his vengeful spite against Biden by insisting he was known as «Sleepy» and «Crooked», and by claiming he was controlled by his «Radical Left Handlers», who, along with their «Fake News Media» allies, «cover up his severe mental decline and his unprecedented use of the Autopen». The text also accuses Biden of having «weaponized Law Enforcement against his political opponent», before ending with a triumphant flourish that shifts the focus back to Trump himself: «President Trump would ger Re-Elected in a Landslide, and SAVE AMERICA!».

Trump’s insults do not spare Barack Obama, whose plaque adopts the same confrontational tone that runs through the entire installation. Obama is described as «one of the most divisive political figures in American History.», with the text deliberately using the name «Barack Hussein Obama», a formulation long favored by Trump and his allies. The plaque also takes aim at Obama’s signature domestic achievement, dismissing health care reform as the «highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable Care Act.», reducing a landmark policy to a line of derision. Bill Clinton is treated with comparatively less venom, though not without a jab, with his presidency briefly summed up as being marked by «scandals that plagued his presidency.». Even there, however, the plaque quickly shifts away from Clinton himself to highlight Trump’s own political victory, concluding with the assertion that «In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!», once again turning a supposed historical display into a vehicle for personal triumph and grievance.

Trump also takes aim at several other presidents, using the plaques to replay old grievances while elevating his own record. George W. Bush is blamed for having «started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened», while John F. Kennedy’s plaque highlights a «painful setback» tied to the «failed Bay of Pigs Invasion.». Even Ronald Reagan is drafted into the narrative in service of Trump, with a plaque claiming Reagan was «a fan of President Donald J. Trump long before» Trump ever entered office. Trump then reserves his most expansive praise for himself across his two portraits, calling his presidency «the Greatest Economy in the History», describing his 2016 Electoral College result of 304-227 as a «landslide.», and pointing to his popular-vote victory in 2024 as another marker of political legitimacy and vindication.