In some epic news from the Trump White House, the much-beloved president’s new official portrait for his second term has been revealed. The portrait quickly made waves online as it, like the photograph on which it was based, is extremely dramatic because of its superb use of lightning and Trump’s incredible expression.
Particularly, the picture, which was originally captured by Chief White House Photographer Daniel Torok, is quite different from many past presidential portraits in that it is not a particularly friendly or cheery portrait, but rather shows President Trump looking like he is ready to get revenge for what has happened since 2016.
In fact, the president’s stern face, characterized by his compressed, serious-looking lips pressed together under an unaverted gaze and cocked eyebrow, is far more stern than smiling. Adding to the effect of his no-nonsense look is that the lighting of the photo, called “monster lighting” by experts, illuminates the president’s face from below, creating a very intense, shadow-filled scene that looks straight out of a tense scene in a movie.
For apparel in the portrait, the president is shown wearing his characteristic blue suit with a fitted Brioni white shirt that features an English spread collar and French cuffs. As is typical, the president is also shown in a red silk tie with an American Flag pin stuck on the left lapel of his suit jacket.
The portrait is quite different from the president’s first official portrait, released in 2017. In that one, President Trump was depicted in the same blue coat and white shirt, but with a blue tie with white spots. Far more differently, he was smiling broadly and had a healthy glow to his skin in that first portait, whereas the second was far more frightening looking and featured the aforementioned “monster” lightning.
Check out the video of the portrait being put up posted by the White House on X here:
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Commenters online loved the portrait. One MAGA account on X, for example, wrote, “It’s more dramatic, the light & dark composition adds the drama. The bold red tie, which is knotted extremely tight, is perfect with his blue suit and white shirt! HE is the American Flag! It’s not missing, it is him. I guess that means I LOVE IT! ❤️🤍💙
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Similarly, another commenter on X noted that the portrait shows a stern seriousness that is rare in such portraits and quite compliments President Trump. That commenter wrote, “I love it! Shows a serious and determination not seen in other Presidential portraits.”
Another conservative poster on X said, “This is, by some margin, my favourite of Donald Trump’s official portraits. I didn’t like either of the angry frowning ones. The smiley one felt a bit forced. But this is just right. Captures the essence of the most fascinating man of our times & stares directly into your soul.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video