Serious. Ominous. A “message picture”.
Those are some of the descriptions of Donald Trump’s newest official portrait, captured by his chief photographer, Daniel Torok. In the photo, the president-elect wears a stern expression, eyebrow cocked.
“The official portrait of the president is the most printed, most seen image of the president, ever,” former White House photographer Eric Draper told the BBC.
He worked for George W Bush throughout his eight-year presidency, taking both of his official portraits.
Mr Draper’s first impression of Trump’s image was that it was “heavily manipulated” with both studio lighting and retouching after the shoot.
The photo appeared to use “monster” lighting, he added, to dramatically illuminate the president-elect from below and make his eyes pop.
The lighting setup gives the image an “ominous” look often seen in horror films, said Eliska Sky, a portrait photographer with the London Institute of Photography. She compared the portrayal of Trump to a boxer before a fight.
The lighting “suggests seriousness and intent”, according to Paul Duerinckx, a senior documentary photography lecturer at the Swansea College of Art.
This image is striking, he added, because the light source in most photos comes from above, like the sun or ceiling lights, and flipping the source in this photo “tends to really have an effect on us”.
Many on social media compared the photo to Donald Trump’s ‘mug shot’, taken in Fulton County Jail in Georgia after he was charged with attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss – a charge Trump denies.
Photography YouTuber Jared Polin said that he discussed the portrait with Mr Torok and was told the mug shot did provide inspiration.
“The mug shot photo was one of the most searched images, maybe ever,” Polin claims Mr Torok said. Mr Torok did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
The mug shot, taken in 2023, became part of US culture, adorning everything from coffee cups to T-shirts.
Donald Trump’s official portrait taken at the beginning of his first time in 2017 (l), and (r) George W. Bush’s captured by Eric Draper in 2003
The style of Trump’s new portrait is a departure from the look of his 2017 image, and that of past presidents, including George W Bush.
“You definitely make photos to please the client, and in this case, I think this is the type of image they wanted to portray,” Mr Draper told the BBC.
He recalled sitting down with then-President Bush and first lady Laura Bush to pore over a selection of images before they picked their favourite.
“The idea was to have it look like nice, pleasant lighting, have it look like a professional portrait, with a nice expression because these photos are going to be welcoming people as they walk into their post office,” he said.
Andrew Parsons is a political photographer who worked for four British prime ministers from David Cameron to Liz Truss, as well as Boris Johnson for 13 years.
“It’s a message picture, I’m delivering you a message,” he said of Trump’s photo. “It’s not like a candid laugh, it’s a stern, hard, look straight down the barrel of the lens.”
By contrast, Mr Parsons said the 2017 iteration was a “Donald Trump businessman picture”.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of political images like Trump’s, he said. “A picture can make or break a political campaign.”
See the Inauguration Day schedule for Trump’s 2025 presidential swearing in
President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated Monday, taking the oath of office to formally kick off his second term in the White House.
The inauguration marks the official transfer of presidential power, with the executive branch changing hands from the Biden administration to the Trump administration. The 20th Amendment states that a president’s four-year term ends at noon on Jan. 20, and the president-elect is sworn in shortly after.
The inaugural ceremonies of the president-elect and vice president-elect are planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Led this year by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, the committee oversees eight events on Inauguration Day:
- the procession to the Capitol;
- the vice president’s swearing-in ceremony;
- the president’s swearing-in ceremony;
- the inaugural address;
- the honorary departure of the outgoing president and vice president;
- the signing ceremony, during which the new president signs nominations, memorandums, proclamations or executive orders;
- the inaugural luncheon;
- the pass in review, during which the president and vice president review military troops;
- and the presidential parade, which will take place at Capital One arena in downtown Washington due to the cold.
The theme of this year’s ceremonies is “Our Enduring Democracy: A Constitutional Promise.”
The inauguration ceremony should begin around 11:30 a.m. ET, teeing up Trump’s swearing-in at roughly noon, when he becomes president. The proceedings were initially going to take place on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, but the president-elect decided to move the ceremony indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of cold temperatures expected in Washington on Monday.
While there is no set time for how long the inauguration ceremony will run, the proceedings lasted roughly an hour when Trump took the oath of office in 2017 and Mr. Biden was inaugurated in 2021.
According to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, the inaugural ceremonies will begin with a musical prelude performed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Combined Choirs and “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band.
Klobuchar will issue a call to order, and Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and the Rev. Franklin Graham will deliver an invocation. Christopher Macchio, an opera singer dubbed America’s Tenor, will sing “Oh, America!”
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will then administer the vice presidential oath of office to JD Vance. Trump nominated Kavanaugh to the high court in 2018 following the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Country singer Carrie Underwood, joined by the Armed Forces Chorus and the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club, will perform “America the Beautiful.”
Following their performance, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the presidential oath to Trump.
The Naval Academy Glee Club will return to sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and then Trump will deliver his inaugural address.
The ceremony will conclude with a benediction from Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University; Imam Husham Al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center; Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church Detroit; and the Rev. Father Frank Mann of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, and the National Anthem, performed by Macchio.
BBC/CBS