Fact Check: Did Obama take the Winston Churchill bust out of the Oval Office?

WASHINGTON, DC: A viral claim has circulated online that former President Barack Obama removed the ex-UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill's bust from the Oval Office. The story gained traction after US President Donald Trump accused Obama of disrespecting the former UK Prime Minister by taking the bust out of the White House on St Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17. But did Obama really remove the Churchill bust? Here’s the truth behind the claim.

Claim: Barack Obama did not want Winston Churchill in Oval Office

During a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on St Patrick’s Day, Trump claimed that former President Barack Obama did not want a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office and “sent it back to England.” Trump said.

Trump emphasized, “You see that man right there? Churchill. Winston Churchill. The late, great Winston Churchill. And Barack Hussein Obama did not want his bust in this office." 

He added, "Did you know that? And Barack Hussein Obama sent that bust back to England. They didn’t want it. And when I came in, I was asked if I wanted it. I said absolutely, I want it. And they put it right here. Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, Keir is not Winston Churchill.”

While Trump’s video made the rounds, some users on X pointed out that Obama did not send the Churchill bust back to England. 

They explained that in 2009, Obama had removed a loaned bust of Churchill from the Oval Office and replaced it with one of Martin Luther King Jr, but the bust remained in the White House collection. This sparked a debate online over whether Obama actually removed the Churchill bust from the Oval Office.

Fact Check: False, Obama explains Churchill bust in Oval Office

When he first took office, Barack Obama moved the Winston Churchill bust out of the Oval Office, which some in the British media saw as a possible slight. However, Obama later explained during a UK press conference that he moved it to make room for a bust of Martin Luther King Jr, since space in the Oval Office is limited.

He also confirmed that another Churchill bust stayed in the White House, outside the Treaty Room on the second floor, where he sees it “every day, including on weekends, when I’m going into that office to watch a basketball game.”

There had long been rumors that Obama sent the bust back to the British Embassy after removing it from the Oval Office. He added, jokingly, that the bust is there by his choice, saying, “I can do anything” on the second floor of the White House.

Obama expressed his admiration for Churchill, saying, “I love Winston Churchill.” This shows that while the bust left the Oval Office, it stayed in the White House.