The fact is that he pulled off one of the most remarkable turn-arounds, perhaps THE most remarkable turnaround in American political history—although it was not the landslide he brags it was (in terms of the popular vote; although the electoral college was equally landslidey to the whipping he took four years earlier from Joe Biden) .
You obedient observer does not recall anyone asking Trump him, as one asks those departing from office, how he wishes to be remembered. Trump already has answered that question with his presidential portrait for his second term.
If he wants to be remembered for this glowering, angry, and threatening image for the next century or two or more (we hope), so be it. From his standpoint, that’s who he is today.
It’s a far cry from the portrait for his first term, which is used by the Trump Presidential Library.
The two portraits contrast the different places that Trump’s life has taken him as he regains the White House. The first exudes confidence, health, vigor, and excitement about being in the oval office, a winner. It’s a friendly image. He was a robust 70 then.
The second image is of a bitter old man, worn by four years of well-deserved legal proceedings, one of which made him a felon and the second of which has seen an escalation of damages to more than one-half billion dollars while he appeals the finding. It shows a man driven by revenge, a man comfortable with his reputation as a bully who does not forgive those who question his lies or a country that will not be intimidated by his threats.
It is reminiscent of his mug shot taken at the Fulton County, Georgia jail, the first criminal mug shot taken of any previous President. Reprinting it on t-shirts made him a lot of money.
And yes, there IS a Trump Presidential Library. It’s a website run by the National Archives nd Records Administration, the very organization he did not want to give some of his records to. It’s considered a placeholder until a brick and mortar library is put up.
He’s 78 now, battered and facing questions about his own psychological stability—the same issue that dogged his predecessor in the recent campaign.
HuffPost writer Kimberly Richards consulted with some body language experts about what the portrait says. One, Mike Bowden, says the portrait “conveys a sense of aggression…the impression of intense targeting or scrutiny, as if he’s locked onto a subject.” He thinks the portrait “echoes the defiance” we see in the mug shot and turns it into “a statement of power and control” and a “readiness to confront and dominate.”
The CEO of the Body Language Institute, Janine Driver, thinks the new image “conveys authority and determination. The absence of a smile signals seriousness, perhaps an effort to project strength…Whether one admires or critiques him, it’s hard to deny the intentionality behind every element of this new portrayal.”
I hate to say it but—wait, I don’t hate to say it:
The new portrait looks more like a mob boss than a President. It looks like a man totally wrapped up in himself, the general population be damned.
But best of all, it looks like Donald Trump and it is the image that will represent who and what he is for generations to come. It is an image he carried through his inauguration—
—and is continuing through the next four years.
If he wants to be remembered as this kind of person, we will respect one of his few demonstrations of a commitment to truth.