Latest news with #TrumpPortrait
Fast Company
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Trump ditches the American flag for his stern new portrait
The White House just unveiled a second version of President Trump's official portrait, and it's even more foreboding than the first. The new portrait, which was taken by the chief White House photographer Daniel Torok and revealed on Monday, shows Trump in a dark blue suit and red tie, sitting in a nearly dark room. It appears to be an evolution of Trump's first official portrait, also taken by Torok, which debuted just before his inauguration. Trump's first portrait strayed markedly from the precedent set by past administrations in terms of how the chief executive is presented. But this 2.0 version includes a striking omission that even the first did not: there's no American flag. It's just the most recent development in Trump's monthslong campaign to adopt a darker, sterner personal brand that aligns with his desired image of control. Leaving convention at the door Cara Finnegan is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois and author of the book, Photographic Presidents: Making History from Daguerreotype to Digital. According to Finnegan, presidents are 'always deeply invested in their political image.' In an interview with Fast Company back in January, Rhea L. Combs, director of curatorial affairs at Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, explained that presidential portraits have historically aimed to balance relatability with strong leadership and American pride. To signal relatability, every president in the last 60 years has been photographed with a wide smile, positioned at a straight-on angle to keep the subject eye-level with the viewer. The lighting is typically soft and even, giving the composition an approachable feel. And, to reinforce the concept of commitment to the country, each president since Gerald Ford has included the American flag in the background of their official portrait. During his first term in 2016, Trump hewed closely to this historical approach. In contrast, for his inaugural portrait this year, he bucked nearly every tradition—including lighting, framing, angle, and facial expression—resulting in an official image that aimed to convey dominance rather than relatability. Still, he kept a sliver of the American flag in the background. For portrait 2.0, though, that final vestige of convention has also been abandoned. 'The mug shot arguably is his presidential portrait' At the time of the first portrait's release, Torok took to his personal X account to confirm that his portrait of Trump was inspired by the President's mug shot, taken after he was found guilty of 34 felony counts in May 2024. Trump used the mug shot as a marketing tool throughout his campaign, repositioning it as a kind of badge of honor by selling pieces of the suit he wore in the photo and featuring it on rally posters. This 2.0 version blurs the line between mug shot and presidential portrait even more. Once again, Trump is pictured making his signature scolding, eyebrow-raised expression from his mug shot that Torok already emulated once before. Compared to the first portrait—which was significantly darker and more harshly lit than the average presidential portrait—version 2.0 has brought the dimmers down even further, obscuring almost half of Trump's face in shadow. And instead of an illuminated background featuring the American flag, this image features what is essentially an ominous black hole surrounding the President. On X, Torok responded to a commenter with a brief explanation of how he chose to capture the image: 'Fairly dark room. One massive overhead soft box. And a streak of sunlight from the sunset over his right shoulder. Cinematic lighting.' That last detail of emulating cinema seems to hint at the broader rationale behind Trump's sterner second term image, from an oil painting in the White House of his bloodied face to the commercialization of his mug shot: It's all about using production to craft a specific narrative. With portrait 2.0, the Trump administration seems to be saying Trump is the star, and the United States is merely the set. 'What's striking to me is that the release of each second-term official portrait has prompted comparisons to the 2023 mug shot,' says Finnegan. 'It's clearly become the image to which every subsequent photographic portrait of Trump is inevitably compared. Yes, Trump himself immediately embraced the mug shot and commercialized it, and now it even hangs outside the oval office, so he's authorized it himself in that way. But if every photographic portrait of Trump is compared to the mug shot, then the mug shot arguably IS his presidential portrait.'
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
It's President Trump Again, This Time in Full Frame
President Trump has a new official photographic portrait — his fourth since 2017, two produced during administrative transitions and two in the first months of his nonconsecutive terms. We have come a long way from the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, in which the Virginian general stands at his desk with stiff republican reserve. The new official image, shot by the government photographer Daniel Torok, presents the incumbent in tight close-up and obscure quarters. Its lighting is immoderate, its tone forbidding, but compared to the last one its subject's mood has actually brightened. For that previous portrait, released at the time of the presidential transition in January 2025, Mr. Torok used egregious spotlighting from below that gave Mr. Trump the mien of a horror movie villain. The ex-president become president-elect glowered and squinted, in marked imitation of his mug shot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. The new portrait, by contrast, displays a classically Trumpian tonal incongruity; for all the darkness, note the humor. The lighting is more head-on. Mr. Trump's shoulders are relaxed, his affect has softened. His neutral expression is moderated by a slight warmth in the eyes — a classic pose that a younger generation, following the supermodel Tyra Banks, knows to call 'smizing.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Trump portrait ends decades-long tradition
Donald Trump 's decision to go with a 'dark MAGA' look in his new official photo jettisoned a 50-year tradition in presidential portraits of incorporating Old Glory into the image. Trump, who famously hugged the American flag on stage at CPAC in 2019 and 2020, opted for a portrait without the Stars and Stripes in the background. Instead, his new official presidential portrait features a closely cropped image of his face with a dark background. That makes him the first president since Richard Nixon not to have himself pictured in front of the American flag. (Trump is sporting his American flag pin, a modern fixture for presidents and politicians). The preceding nine presidents – along with Trump – chose to have an image in front of the flag as their official portrait. That includes the official portrait Trump used for the first weeks of his administration. Those portraits date all the way to the era when presidential portraits were in black and white. 'Is Trump the first president to not have any flag in the background of their official portrait?' asked the rockypoliticss account on X . That was a question that the New York Times tracked down, flagging Library of Congress images revealing every presidential portrait back to 1974 had Old Glory in it. Gushing about the new portrait was Sebastian Gorka, the British-Hungarian-American who serves as Trump's senior director for counterterrorism. 'President @realDonaldTrump's new portrait has been deployed at the @WhiteHouse. I loved the original, but this may be even more MAGA,' he wrote. The new official portrait is already up on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. has reached out to the White House for comment about the new portrait. The flurry of interest over Trump's new portrait comes as it was revealed that he is continuing to use a 2019 image of himself as the lock screen picture for his iPhone. Trump's new official portrait pictures a stern-faced president over an all-black background – and shows indications of a heavy-handed photo-shop tools. The portrait replaces the one then president-elect Trump released three days before his inauguration. That portrait drew a striking resemblance to Trump's mugshot taken at the Fulton County jail during his reelection campaign after being charged with a racketeering conspiracy to overturn the state's election results. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ultimately dismissed several of the charges and the case stalled. The White House released a new official version Monday in the form of a video clip of an aide hanging the new portrait on a wall that was posted on X. It shows Trump looking straight ahead, and squinting, wearing a light blue suit and sporting an American flag pin. It reveals a slight downgrade in the intensity of his prior portrait, which captured Trump with an eyebrow raised and appearing to glower – after reclaiming the White House while railing against 'witch hunts' against him and enduring two assassination attempts. That portrait now hangs in government buildings around the country. Experts immediately pointed to hallmarks of photo-shop, including changes that could obscure loose skin below the president's chin. Trump, 78, prizes physical prowess and recently called former President Joe Biden a 'decrepit corpse.' The new portrait does show bags under Trump's eyes, which are somehow absent in the Trump portrait from January, which features much starker lighting. Topping both may be Trump's mug shot, which show Trump gazing downward the first time he was charged with a crime. Aides hanged a newspaper photograph of that portrait soon after Trump took office. It was one of many changes that Trump added to the Oval Office. has asked the White House for information on the new portrait. The earlier one was taken by chief White House official photographer Daniel Torok. In April, Trump hung a stark portrait of himself between paintings of former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. A month earlier, Trump railed against an 'unflattering' portrait of himself that legisators hung in the Colorado state Capitol building.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Trump sparks intrigue by ditching a 50-year tradition in his new presidential portrait
Donald Trump 's decision to go with a 'dark MAGA' look in his new official photo jettisoned a 50-year tradition in presidential portraits of incorporating Old Glory into the image. Trump, who famously hugged the American flag on stage at CPAC in 2019 and 2020, opted for a portrait without the Stars and Stripes in the background. Instead, his new official presidential portrait features a closely cropped image of his face with a dark background. That makes him the first president since Richard Nixon not to have himself pictured in front of the American flag. (Trump is sporting his American flag pin, a modern fixture for presidents and politicians). The preceding nine presidents – along with Trump – chose to have an image in front of the flag as their official portrait. That includes the official portrait Trump used for the first weeks of his administration. Those portraits date all the way to the era when presidential portraits were in black and white. 'Is Trump the first president to not have any flag in the background of their official portrait?' asked the rockypoliticss account on X. That was a question that the New York Times tracked down, flagging Library of Congress images revealing every presidential portrait back to 1974 had Old Glory in it. Gushing about the new portrait was Sebastian Gorka, the British-Hungarian-American who serves as Trump's senior director for counterterrorism. 'President @realDonaldTrump's new portrait has been deployed at the @WhiteHouse. I loved the original, but this may be even more MAGA,' he wrote. The new official portrait is already up on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. has reached out to the White House for comment about the new portrait. The flurry of interest over Trump's new portrait comes as it was revealed that he is continuing to use a 2019 image of himself as the lock screen picture for his iPhone. Trump's new official portrait pictures a stern-faced president over an all-black background – and shows indications of a heavy-handed photo-shop tools. The portrait replaces the one then president-elect Trump released three days before his inauguration. That portrait drew a striking resemblance to Trump's mugshot taken at the Fulton County jail during his reelection campaign after being charged with a racketeering conspiracy to overturn the state's election results. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ultimately dismissed several of the charges and the case stalled. The White House released a new official version Monday in the form of a video clip of an aide hanging the new portrait on a wall that was posted on X. It shows Trump looking straight ahead, and squinting, wearing a light blue suit and sporting an American flag pin. It reveals a slight downgrade in the intensity of his prior portrait, which captured Trump with an eyebrow raised and appearing to glower – after reclaiming the White House while railing against 'witch hunts' against him and enduring two assassination attempts. That portrait now hangs in government buildings around the country. Experts immediately pointed to hallmarks of photo-shop, including changes that could obscure loose skin below the president's chin. Trump, 78, prizes physical prowess and recently called former President Joe Biden a 'decrepit corpse.' The new portrait does show bags under Trump's eyes, which are somehow absent in the Trump portrait from January, which features much starker lighting. Topping both may be Trump's mug shot, which show Trump gazing downward the first time he was charged with a crime. Aides hanged a newspaper photograph of that portrait soon after Trump took office. It was one of many changes that Trump added to the Oval Office. has asked the White House for information on the new portrait. The earlier one was taken by chief White House official photographer Daniel Torok. In April, Trump hung a stark portrait of himself between paintings of former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. A month earlier, Trump railed against an 'unflattering' portrait of himself that legisators hung in the Colorado state Capitol building. 'Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves,' Trump wrote on Truth Social about the painting. 'But the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor... was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,' Trump complained, prompting legislators to remove it.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
New Trump portrait ends decades-long tradition
The White House has unveiled a new presidential portrait of Donald Trump, using a knock-off version of the Austin Powers movie theme for the reveal video on X. The new portrait replaces the one introduced earlier this year and features a stern-looking Trump in a navy suit and red tie against a dark backdrop, utilizing high contrast and dark shadows. This portrait is the first since Richard Nixon's in 1969 not to feature an American flag in the background, differing from Trump's first-term portrait, which showed him smiling in front of an American flag. The new portrait has been updated on the White House website and Trump's Facebook account and is hung in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The expression in Trump's new portrait is similar to his Georgia mug shot from two years ago, which his supporters used to depict him standing up against what they viewed as the deep state.
