Reports indicate that Donald Trump has pledged to return the bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office if he assumes the presidency next year.
The statue, a tribute to the British wartime leader, held a prominent spot in the White House until President Biden replaced it in 2021 with a bust of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.
According to a source cited by the Daily Mail, “Donald idolises Churchill and believes he’s the greatest leader the world has ever seen… He will restore him to a position of honour.”
The bronze bust, crafted by renowned English sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein, was originally gifted to President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. During Obama’s administration, the Churchill bust was not in the Oval Office but was placed outside the Treaty Room, where he would often pass it during his personal time.
Obama opted to display a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office instead. This decision drew attention, with Boris Johnson suggesting in 2016 that Obama’s choice might have been influenced by his “ancestral dislike of the British empire” due to his Kenyan heritage.
* The Standard contributed to this article.
