Trump’s Missing Photo at LAX

 

In January there were a few stories about how long it was taking to replace the Obama picture that welcomes you when you arrive into the US through the International Terminal at LAX. Here’s one from TMZ:

Donald Trump should be greeting you when you land at the LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal, but when you look for him you’ll draw a blank.

Check out the empty picture frame which until just a week ago, showcased Barack Obama.

Trump had taken his official pic, but we’re told the White House has not sent the photos to some locations where the president hangs above the action.

Customs and Border Protection is in charge of posting the photo at LAX, but we’re told it may take a week or so before they get it.

It’s five months later, and there’s still no picture of Trump there. This is so strange even my non-political wife is miffed by it.

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  1. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    It seems he’s surrounded by enemies everywhere. This is just not right. A huge injustice is being done to the man was elected our president if this article is true. I’m hoping there is a legitimate reason for not having his picture there after all this time.

    • #1
  2. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    I think early on some army guys filled the empty frame in the chain of command wall, with the meme of Trump riding on a tank with his logo on it.

     

    • #2
  3. The Whether Man Inactive
    The Whether Man
    @TheWhetherMan

    Hmm. As of late March, the frame at the National Archives was empty too. I assumed it was just the bureaucracy moving at the speed of molasses.

    • #3
  4. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    I’m not sure what conclusion to draw from this.

    • #4
  5. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Government employees make up “The Resistance”.  They are everywhere in government.  Another aspect of Rush’s “Silent Coup”.

    • #5
  6. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    Government employees make up “The Resistance”. They are everywhere in government. Another aspect of Rush’s “Silent Coup”.

    That could be true, I suppose, but, in this instance, I’m not sure how you get there based on what’s above.   Do we know that the pictures have even been sent out?

     

    • #6
  7. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Guruforhire (View Comment):
    I think early on some army guys filled the empty frame in the chain of command wall, with the meme of Trump riding on a tank with his logo on it.

    Yes they did. I wrote about it after the inauguration. Here’s one of the pictures. Some units also used a picture of St. Mattis in lieu of his official photo.

    • #7
  8. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    The Whether Man (View Comment):
    Hmm. As of late March, the frame at the National Archives was empty too. I assumed it was just the bureaucracy moving at the speed of molasses.

    Led by the #FnResistance.

    • #8
  9. Kim K. Inactive
    Kim K.
    @KimK

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    Government employees make up “The Resistance”. They are everywhere in government. Another aspect of Rush’s “Silent Coup”.

    There are lots of government employees who are NOT “The Resistance.” On our local base someone had mentioned the lack of the president’s picture in the chain of command photo displays. The answer was that the photo hadn’t been made available yet.

    And, again, the vast majority of government employees here would be miffed to be lumped in with any kind of resistance or “Silent Coup.”

    • #9
  10. Chris B Member
    Chris B
    @ChrisB

    Joe Escalante: It’s five months later, and there’s still no picture of Trump there.

    It’s a shame that the director of Customs and Border Protection at LAX doesn’t really want his job any more. Insubordination is a justifiable reason for termination with cause, and I’m sure that there are plenty of people who are willing to do the job properly.

    If he can’t even execute a little thing like hanging a picture, how can he be trusted to screen threats to our country? He is not faithful in the little things, and won’t be faithful in the big things either.

    • #10
  11. NYLibertarianGuy Inactive
    NYLibertarianGuy
    @PaulKingsbery

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):
    It seems he’s surrounded by enemies everywhere. This is just not right. A huge injustice is being done to the man was elected our president if this article is true. I’m hoping there is a legitimate reason for not having his picture there after all this time.

    I agree that it’s not right, but a “huge injustice”?  Come on.  At best its just passive aggressive nonsense.  Nonsense that should be corrected, mind you.  I don’t like the guy, but he is the President and I suppose he’s entitled to have his little picture hanging on the wall.  If I were Trump, I would replace all of these photographs with large screens that show my Twitter feed 24/7.  That would really be rubbing the bureaucrats’ faces in it.

    • #11
  12. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):
    It seems he’s surrounded by enemies everywhere. This is just not right. A huge injustice is being done to the man was elected our president if this article is true. I’m hoping there is a legitimate reason for not having his picture there after all this time.

    Yah, the employees there don’t like him and he doesn’t have anyone to send to straighten it out, because he still hasn’t staffed his administration. It is his job to manage these people. Worlds smallest violin in playing for Trump right now.

    • #12
  13. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Kim K. (View Comment):
    The answer was that the photo hadn’t been made available yet.

    Who’s responsible for sending it out? The GSA makes them available, and the U.S. Government Publishing Office prints them. ABC:

    The agency will print the new pictures once it receives them, along with instructions, from the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency that manages thousands of buildings and which, in turn, must wait for the White House to provide the photos.

    That ABC story was published in January. (It begins with this eye-rolling lede: “By the time Barack Obama become a private citizen last week, his portrait had already been destroyed at a health clinic in Florida.” Yeah, dude, got it, everyone’s going to die now) To be exact, Jan. 28th. But Petapixel said on January 21 that this was Trump’s official presidential portrait. That’s the one on the White House website. So it exists.

    • #13
  14. The Whether Man Inactive
    The Whether Man
    @TheWhetherMan

    All the construction signs for federal projects in DC that I regularly encounter – the ones that say it’s “done by order of President….” – were changed within three days of the inauguration. So the text based signs were fine, which made me think some sort of bureaucratic snafu wasn’t getting the picture up.

    • #14
  15. KC Mulville Inactive
    KC Mulville
    @KCMulville

    I work at Fort Meade in a government facility. Every entrance has the portraits of the chain of command, up to the president (i.e., a couple generals, then Mattis, then Pence, then Trump). In our building, those portraits were up on the morning after the inauguration. So, what’s the holdup? Because it isn’t that the pictures weren’t ready.

    • #15
  16. Pugshot Inactive
    Pugshot
    @Pugshot

    Somehow I just can’t get upset about this. I’ve always had a jaundiced view of politicians putting up their photos or names in public buildings. It seemed to me like an ego thing, or, at the least, an attempt to plant a reminder for votes for the subject of the photo (at the public’s expense). This is even more the case with the President – everyone knows who he is and I don’t see the point in having his photo displayed in every federal building. If we’ve got to have photos up in these locations, make it of a nice photo of an American flag – or select a deserving employee (or, even better, someone from the US military who has given his or her life for our country) and display their photo.

    • #16
  17. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Pugshot (View Comment):
    Somehow I just can’t get upset about this. I’ve always had a jaundiced view of politicians putting up their photos or names in public buildings. It seemed to me like an ego thing, or, at the least, an attempt to plant a reminder for votes for the subject of the photo (at the public’s expense). This is even more the case with the President – everyone knows who he is and I don’t see the point in having his photo displayed in every federal building. If we’ve got to have photos up in these locations, make it of a nice photo of an American flag – or select a deserving employee (or, even better, someone from the US military who has given his or her life for our country) and display their photo.

    I don’t like the practice of putting up photos of our politicians and you can be sure I am not going to pick this as the time not to get upset about the omission.

    • #17
  18. Rightfromthestart Coolidge
    Rightfromthestart
    @Rightfromthestart

    I went into the administrative office at the nearby National Cemetery a few months back and there he was. I was only slightly surprised but really really glad it wasn’t the grifter. I think I uttered a sound like ‘Hah’ involuntarily.

    • #18
  19. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Guruforhire (View Comment):
    I think early on some army guys filled the empty frame in the chain of command wall, with the meme of Trump riding on a tank with his logo on it.

    Yes they did. I wrote about it after the inauguration. Here’s one of the pictures. Some units also used a picture of St. Mattis in lieu of his official photo.

    still awesome.

    • #19
  20. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    It’s up at our local VA Hospital.  Not a very good photo, though.  Kind of constipated looking, sorry to say.

    • #20
  21. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    KC Mulville (View Comment):
    I work at Fort Meade in a government facility. Every entrance has the portraits of the chain of command, up to the president (i.e., a couple generals, then Mattis, then Pence, then Trump). In our building, those portraits were up on the morning after the inauguration. So, what’s the holdup? Because it isn’t that the pictures weren’t ready.

    Since you can confirm that Ft Meade has made the change, it sounds like an individual up the chain of command in some buildings does not want the CiC photos posted.

    Incidentally this does not matter, but if it is widespread, it suggests the disregard by employees for what is proper and expected.

    It would be no surprise that LAX might fall into the category of disregarding protocol in regards to President Trump.

    • #21
  22. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Pugshot (View Comment):
    Somehow I just can’t get upset about this. I’ve always had a jaundiced view of politicians putting up their photos or names in public buildings. It seemed to me like an ego thing, or, at the least, an attempt to plant a reminder for votes for the subject of the photo (at the public’s expense). This is even more the case with the President – everyone knows who he is and I don’t see the point in having his photo displayed in every federal building. If we’ve got to have photos up in these locations, make it of a nice photo of an American flag – or select a deserving employee (or, even better, someone from the US military who has given his or her life for our country) and display their photo.

    That is fine. I don’t disagree. But the standard is set, and should be followed, until otherwise officially changed.

    It is not at the top of my concerns, but it reflects a prevailing negative and insubordinate attitude by government employees.

    • #22
  23. Kim K. Inactive
    Kim K.
    @KimK

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Kim K. (View Comment):
    The answer was that the photo hadn’t been made available yet.

    Who’s responsible for sending it out? The GSA makes them available, and the U.S. Government Publishing Office prints them. ABC:

    The agency will print the new pictures once it receives them, along with instructions, from the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency that manages thousands of buildings and which, in turn, must wait for the White House to provide the photos.

    That ABC story was published in January. (It begins with this eye-rolling lede: “By the time Barack Obama become a private citizen last week, his portrait had already been destroyed at a health clinic in Florida.” Yeah, dude, got it, everyone’s going to die now) To be exact, Jan. 28th. But Petapixel said on January 21 that this was Trump’s official presidential portrait. That’s the one on the White House website. So it exists.

    Not sure it matters, but this is what the base put out on their Facebook page on May 11:

    In response to an anonymous CO’s Suggestion the NAWSCL Commanding Officer in consultation with applicable expertise provides the following information –

    “Why are there no pictures of the President of Vice President anywhere on the base? President Obama had his picture everywhere.”

    As of May 11, 2017 the official photos for President Trump and Vice President Pence have not been released by the responsible Washington D.C office for dissemination via historic administrative channels. As a result Command photo boards located at different sites throughout the installation had the previous administration’s photos removed on the day of the Presidential Inauguration with no replacement made available by Higher Headquarters. However, coincidently with responding to this CO’s Suggestion the Navy Chief of Information Office (CHINFO) announced that the high resolution versions of pictures posted on whitehouse.gov may be downloaded for use on Command photo boards until the official photos are released and distributed to DoD Commands. In summary, Command photo boards onboard NAWSCL will be updated as soon as possible.

     

    • #23
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