Credit: HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House for a formal state dinner
- Prior to the dinner, the foursome posed for photos outside the East Room, with a portrait of Trump on the wall from the July 2024 assassination attempt
- Since last April, Trump has prominently hung a painting from the grisly scene at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were photographed next to a portrait of President Donald Trump from his 2024 assassination attempt.
On Tuesday, April 28, the royals were celebrated with a state dinner in the East Room of the White House. As the King, 77, and Queen, 78, entered the event with Trump, 79, and first lady Melania Trump, 56, they passed what some staff have referred to as the "Butler 'Fight, Fight, Fight' painting."
The painting, which has been a part of White House decor since last April, depicts the president immediately following the July 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., where a bullet grazed his right ear. In the painting, he is shown raising his fist as Secret Service agents surround him, blood splashed across his face.
Credit: Win McNamee/Getty; Chip Somodevilla/Getty
The president proudly showed off the portrait to European leaders who gathered at the White House for a summit on the war in Ukraine last August. "That was not a great day!" he joked to the group.
A White House official previously confirmed to PEOPLE that the president had broken precedent when he moved Barack Obama's official portrait out of public view to hang the Butler portrait.
White House tradition says that the two most recent presidential portraits should hang prominently on either side of the Grand Foyer for members of the public to appreciate during tours and events. Since President Joe Biden's White House portrait has not yet been completed, the two most recent portraits would be of Obama and George W. Bush.
Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage
Earlier this week, the White House had to confirm that the King and Queen's visit would "proceed as planned" following the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
After gunfire left one Secret Service agent injured as the annual political event began, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told PEOPLE, "Following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of government, we can confirm the state visit by their Majesties will proceed as planned."
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"The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow," the spokesperson added.
PEOPLE also understands that King Charles and Queen Camilla reached out privately to the president and first lady following the shooting incident. Trump confirmed that he and the King had spoken in an interview with CBS News on Sunday.
"They called, and they are so looking forward to being here," he said.
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