The White House unveiled President Donald Trump’s official portrait this week, replacing an austere photograph that was released for the president’s inauguration earlier this year.
Introduced in an eight-second video by the White House Monday, June 2, the portrait depicts the president in a blue suit and a red tie against a black backdrop, looking at the camera with a furrowed brow and serious expression. The image is high-contrast, darkly lit and close-up to the president’s face.
The portrait’s lack of background and Trump’s unsmiling gaze further differentiates it from those of his predecessors. Nearly all of the last 10 presidents have all smiled in their portraits, ranging from President Richard Nixon’s beaming expression to President George W. Bush’s grin. Trump’s official portrait for his first term was more closely aligned with the traditional portrait style − featuring a smile and a background with the American flag.
The new official portrait was installed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and replaced the previous photograph on the White House’ biography page for the 47th president.
The White House released an official portrait of first lady Melania Trump one week after her husband was sworn into office.
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. has the only complete collection of American presidential portraits outside of the White House available for public viewing, though it is unclear if Trump’s recently-unveiled portrait will soon join the exhibit. The new portrait comes after Trump announced May 30 he was firing the gallery’s director, Kim Sajet, citing her alleged support of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New official portrait of President Trump unveiled by White House
