The White House today unveiled a new outdoor gallery of presidents called the Presidential Walk of Fame along the West Wing Colonnade, and its most talked-about feature is not who is included, but how one is depicted.
In the spot reserved for Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, there is no portrait. Instead, visitors will find a framed black-and-white photograph of a mechanical autopen device, mid-stroke on a document bearing Biden’s name.
The image stands in contrast to the surrounding gallery, which features traditionally styled portraits of the nation’s presidents, including Donald Trump twice, as both the 45th and 47th president, each displayed in gilded frames and arranged chronologically.
The decision to substitute Biden’s likeness with an autopen is political symbolism and snub. Trump has long criticized Biden’s reliance on the autopen for signing executive orders, legislation, and pardons, suggesting that aides, not Biden himself, were responsible for official actions.
“We’ll put up a picture of the autopen,” Trump teased in a Sept. 1 interview, adding that “not all presidents will be treated equally.” In June, Trump also ordered a review of all of the Biden-era documents signed via autopen, calling the practice a “tremendous scandal.”

Biden has dismissed those claims, saying he personally authorized every use of the device. But in his final month in office, he supposedly signed over 6,500 pardons — a herculean feat of at least 155 pardons per day. Those pardons included a preemptive pardon for his own son, Hunter Biden, against all future charges. He also preemptively pardoned other members of his family, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and Rep. Liz Cheney.
The Presidential Walk of Fame is the latest addition to Trump’s West Wing renovations. The installation stretches along the colonnade that links the West Wing to the Executive Residence, an area often traversed by presidents, staff, and visitors. Above the gallery hangs a gold banner with the words Presidential Walk of Fame. The outdoor space also features recent landscaping changes, including paved walkways and an expanded “Rose Garden Club” with outdoor tables and umbrellas.
The White House teased the gallery earlier this month, with frames covered in brown paper ahead of the reveal.
A nice oil painting of a potato would have been equally appropriate.
President Otto Penn. gotta love it.