With a lot of humor for him, with seriousness for her, Barack and Michelle Obama unveiled their official portraits at the White House on Wednesday, reviving a tradition of political courtesy broken by Donald Trump.

Portraits had already been unveiled in 2018, but for the Smithsonian museum.

" Welcome to the house !

By welcoming them, Joe Biden restored, a term later, the custom that all former presidents and their wives are welcomed by their successors at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for this ceremony.

The president, with his wife Jill Biden, recalled at length his eight years serving as vice-president of Barack Obama, recalling the camaraderie that united them.

“We were counting on you.

And I'm still counting on you," he said.

"He couldn't have done it without you," he also slipped for Michelle Obama, emphasizing the ties created between the two families.

“You were with me when my son was dying,” the 79-year-old Democrat reminded Barack Obama, who delivered the funeral tribute to Beau Biden, who died of cancer.

“You will never realize how much that meant to Jill and me,” Joe Biden said.

Two opposing styles

The couple then unveiled the paintings, which will now adorn the walls of the White House, and which were made from photographs.

Robert McCurdy's photorealistic portrait of Barack Obama shows him standing with his hands in the pockets of a dark suit, a shadow of a smile on his lips, painted ultra-realistically on a white background.

On that of Michelle Obama, by Sharon Sprung, the former First Lady poses on a sofa in the "Red Room" of the White House, in a light blue evening dress, her gaze straight and a touch of amusement in her expression.

Barack Obama, with the oratorical ease that characterizes him, chained a few jokes on his visit to the White House and on his portrait, deploring that the artist did not hide his white hair or reduce the size of his ears.

He also paid a strong tribute to his former vice-president, “a true friend.

“Joe, America is very lucky to have you as president,” he said to the cheers of the audience, which included many of his former aides.

“A place for everyone in this country”

Michelle Obama, in a much more political speech than that of her husband, insisted on the symbol represented by these portraits of the first black president of the United States, and the first African-American "First Lady".

"The little girl that I was, wasn't supposed to live in this house," or have her portrait hanging alongside that of Jacqueline Kennedy, she said.

“What we are looking at (…) is the reminder that there is a place for everyone in this country.

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For a few moments, seeing the Obamas and Biden so complicit and hearing their glowing speeches, it almost felt like the Trump presidency never existed.

But it is difficult to forget that the partisan divisions, which this portrait ceremony has aimed to overcome for decades, are only deepening today in the United States.

Donald Trump, who broke with a number of protocol uses of this kind, and who had multiplied the attacks against Barack Obama, never wanted to welcome him to reveal his portrait.

The Biden administration has so far not announced any plans to deploy White House pomp for the former Republican president.

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