George W. Bush has reportedly painted a secret portrait of President Donald Trump — and according to one author who knows about it, the former president’s work is anything but flattering.
Journalist Jacob Weisberg claims Bush created a “really ugly” painting of Trump but has refused to show it publicly.
Weisberg made the revelation while discussing his new book, Profiles in Cowardice, which was released Tuesday and examines prominent figures and institutions he believes failed to stand up to Trump.
Bush, 80, famously turned to painting after leaving the White House and has produced portraits of world leaders, military veterans and immigrants.
But his alleged Trump portrait has apparently remained under wraps.
Weisberg told New York Magazine’s Intelligencer that Bush had “painted a really ugly picture of Trump” that he will not show anyone.
According to Weisberg, painting has become one way Bush expresses thoughts and emotions that he does not discuss publicly.
“He’s expressing all of his feelings through painting, this kind of art therapy,” Weisberg said.
Weisberg even compared the mysterious artwork to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, suggesting the painting reveals feelings Bush has chosen not to put into words.
The claim comes amid renewed scrutiny of Bush’s decision to largely stay out of the political spotlight during the Trump era.
Weisberg has criticized Bush for rarely speaking directly about Trump despite being the only living former Republican president. In a recent New Yorker essay, Weisberg similarly questioned why Bush discusses subjects such as immigration, diplomacy and political civility but generally avoids addressing Trump by name.
Trump, meanwhile, has had his own very public battle over presidential artwork.
In March 2025, Trump blasted a portrait of himself hanging inside the Colorado State Capitol, calling it distorted and saying he would rather have no portrait than one he believed made him look bad.
The painting had actually been funded through a Republican-led fundraising effort and had been hanging in the Capitol since 2019. Colorado legislative leaders removed it after Trump complained.
Trump had also praised the same artist’s portrait of former President Barack Obama while criticizing his own.
Now, if Weisberg’s account is accurate, another Trump portrait is sitting somewhere out of public view — this one painted by a fellow former Republican president.
Whether Bush will ever let the world see it remains another question.
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And he calls himself a Christian. Huh. Pathetic man. I used to like him, even voted for him. Wish I had known what a I know now. He is a little weasel. Rude and childish too.Sent from my iPhoneOn Sep 15, 2026,
Why not because he\’s an ugly piece of shit