Obama, Biden, Trump, Bush

PODCAST: Where’s the White House dog?

US presidents have traditionally loved their dogs. Donald Trump? Not so much …
April 13, 2026
1 min read

American presidents love dogs. The optics are perfect: loyal, friendly, impossible to fact-check.

From White House photo ops to wartime morale, First Dogs have always helped sell the presidency.

And then came the no-dog presidency.

Which tells you … quite a lot about the presidency of Donald Trump and why so many Americans voted for him.

Robyn Curnow’s podcast, “Searching for America”, examines the US from her outsider perspective – as a South African living in the American South. 

You can also watch the podcast on YouTube and sign up for her free weekly newsletter or Substack here.

Top image: Barack Obama with Bo (Gary Fabiano-Pool/Getty Images); Joe Biden with Champ and Major (HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images); Donald Trump (Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images); George W Bush with Barney (Alex Wong/Getty Images).

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Robyn Curnow

Robyn Curnow is an award-winning broadcaster, foreign correspondent, and speaker with over two decades at CNN.

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