The British artist who was labeled “truly the worst” by former US President Donald Trump after he criticized a portrait she painted of him has stated that the remarks have put her “integrity into question” and are jeopardizing her career.
Sarah A Boardman created Trump’s official portrait for the Colorado state capitol in Denver, where it was displayed for six years starting in 2019.
In March, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, claiming that the portrait had been “purposefully distorted.” He praised Boardman’s portrait of former President Barack Obama as “wonderful,” but declared that “the one on me is truly the worst.”
In her first response since the incident, Boardman expressed that Trump’s comments had undermined her “intentions, integrity, and abilities.”
Boardman countered the president’s assertions in a statement, claiming she had “completed the portrait accurately, without ‘purposeful distortion,’ political bias, or any attempt to caricature the subject, actual or implied.”
She noted that while she respected Trump’s right to express his views, the “further allegations that I ‘purposefully distorted’ the portrait and that I ‘must have lost my talent as I got older’ are now seriously damaging my business of over 41 years, which is at risk of not recovering.”
Reflecting on her work with the Colorado Times Recorder in 2019, she acknowledged that “there will always be anger at a president from one side or the other. It’s human nature.”
Following Trump’s remarks, officials announced that the portrait would be removed, and it has been since then. Boardman stated that for the first six years after she created the portrait, she “received overwhelmingly positive reviews and feedback,” but since Trump’s comments, “that has changed for the worse.”
Originally from Britain, Boardman’s website mentions that she spent years traveling across Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US, while “conducting a successful career in airline travel and business.”
In 1985, she began exploring the techniques of the old masters in Germany and eventually established a successful career as an artist, ultimately winning a nationwide “call for artists” from the state of Denver to paint the official portraits of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Trump is known for closely managing his public image. In January 2025, prior to his inauguration, he unveiled a portrait that was described by critics as either serious or ominous, and appeared to allude to his mugshot from 2023.
That image was taken after he faced charges for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in Georgia—a claim Trump has denied.
In the wake of Trump’s comments about Boardman, his representative Steve Witkoff confirmed that the White House had received a new artwork from Moscow, a personal gift from Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov referred to it as a “personal gift.”
Witkoff characterized the piece as a “beautiful portrait” by a “leading Russian artist.”
