Pvnew recently reported that Republican stronghold the Union League Club is locked in a battle over whether to hang a portrait of former President Donald Trump in its gallery of GOP chief executives.
But it turns out the Penn Club, the New York City digs of his alma mater, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has come up with a neat, conflict-free solution to the problem: hanging a portrait, and then hiding it behind a sofa.
This must be why Wharton grads dominate the business world.
“There remains a controversial picture of Donald Trump in the boardroom of the Penn Club,” a source says of the 44rd Street home of the 122-year-old club. “They have tried to ‘hide it’ by putting it low on the wall, basically behind a piece of furniture.”
They add, “Trump was a major funder of the [current clubhouse, which opened in 1989]. In fact, legend goes he negotiated the purchase of the building … and he gave a big donation, too.”
Trump enrolled at Fordham in 1964 before transferring to Wharton two years later. He graduated 1968 with a BS in economics.
Earlier this month, we reported that the Union League Club is suffering an internal struggle over whether to commission a portrait of the 45th president.
It has a longstanding tradition of commissioning paintings of Republican presidents for its Murray Hill clubhouse.
But three years after Trump left office, the club — which has boasted 15 presidents as members — is still wrangling over whether to honor the native New Yorker with his own picture.
A source told us: “There’s a group that’s agitating for a portrait. There are members who think Trump did a lot of good things, even if his personality leaves a lot to be desired,” said another insider.
Meanwhile, “some members think he’s hurting the party. Some won’t let him go.”
Reps for the Penn Club didn’t get back to us.
