‘Larger than life’ painting of Trump found in Miami hotel

A massive painting of Donald Trump given to him while in office was discovered at one of his Miami hotels this week – just days after House Democrats featured the artwork in a report on the mishandling of foreign gifts by his administration.

The portrait, described in the House Oversight Committee report as “larger than life,” was given to Trump, 76, by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in November 2020.

The artwork is one of several gifts that committee Democrats say Trump and his family have not disclosed, and until Thursday the whereabouts of the painting were unknown.

The New York Times reported that the 8-foot-tall painting was located at the Trump National Doral hotel in Miami, sitting outside an electrical room and propped up on old yoga mats.

The artwork has been there for at least five months.

In their March 17 report, Democrats on the Oversight Committee said federal regulations on presidential gifts from foreign leaders had been violated by the Trump administration, saying the painting should have been turned over to the National Archives or purchased from the General Services Administration, if Trump wanted to keep it, at the end of his presidency.

“There is no trace of the layout of the painting. NARA had no record of this painting, nor did the GSA have any record of the purchase of this gift,” the report said.

The artist behind the portrait told The New York Times on Thursday he was happy to hear his masterpiece was safe, after it was reported lost by US government officials.

“I am happy that the painting is intact, it is beautiful, precious,” Francisco Antonio Lopez Benavides told the outlet.

He added that “it is my greatest wish for all to be better in the world and for this painting to be with President Trump because it is a gift from my President, Nayib Bukele, and I am one of them. We are all President Trump and President Bukele.

Among the missing presidential gifts are golf clubs worth more than $7,000 that Trump received from the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, including a $3,755 gold pilot he received as president-elect, a putter worth $460 and another driver worth $3,040, according to Democrats on the Oversight Committee.