the disruption
It is understandable that Obama ended up having to wait past the Trump presidency for the ceremony and unveiling of a presidential portrait. We can’t count on Trump making with the required presidential niceties, even if in the immediate post election he did manage — that was short-lived and never to return. Understand, in the past speeches could be peppered with lines of double meaning — read into Bush praising Clinton’s “perseverance” what you will. But no one wants to hear Trump on Obama in a supposed apolitical framework after February of 2017 — as it won’t be apolitical.
This brings up one puzzle. Should Ron Desantis win the White House (or, fill in Republican name) — can Trump make this trip? Trump, out for himself, the partisan make-up fades off. Absent this roadblock, Biden can — I think — as if Trump comes, we can resume the apolitical and bipartisan nature of the ceremony — presidents saying nice things about other presidents — but DeSantis could not afford the Republican Trump fan whiplash at now being part of that “Swamp” in fete-ing the Democrat but not Trump.