The White House dropped the new official presidential portrait of Donald Trump on its website and Facebook page on Monday.
The portrait, taken by photographer Daniel Torok, shows the president up close and personal, staring directly out at the viewer, with his face in full detail taking up the majority of the frame. While he’s dressed in a blue suit, a red tie, and a white shirt, adorned with an American flag pin, his body is blurred against a black backdrop.
Hung in a gold frame in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing of the White House, reported the Washington Post, it’s hard to miss the distinct black and gold color combination that comprises most Trump properties.
There have been comparisons drawn to a mug shot of Trump from two years prior, wherein he appears with a scowl on his face, yet he dawns similar dress with the same color combinations.
The image is quite different, however, from a painting he had placed in the White House in April. This portrait featured Trump raising his fist in the air, following a pivotal moment on the campaign trail, while seeking a second term, when a gunman attempted to assassinate him at an event in Butler, Pennsylvania. The image became a rallying point for his second-term bid, along with Trump’s encouragement to “fight, fight, fight”.
It also differs from past photographed portraits taken of the president. The 2017 iteration from Trump’s first term shows the president smiling in front of the American flag. The portrait released earlier this year during his inauguration in January features a similarly severe gaze very close up, but still again situated in front of the flag.
The president has been very particular about his portrait, calling for the removal of his “purposefully distorted” portrait from the Colorado State Capitol in March. This extends to a larger visual program for the United States, including dismantling current programs and ordering a return to classical architecture.
