Does he want to be more feared than loved?

Trump’s official portrait resembles those of fascist strongmen.

Friends,

The following are the “official” portraits of Trump and Vance in advance of their swearings-in Monday, released yesterday by their transition team.

Trump’s isn’t the standard portrait of a smiling new president. (Vance’s pose and expression are more typical.) Trump’s closely resembles the defiant mug shot of Inmate No. P01135809, taken during a 20-minute booking at the Fulton County Jail after Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged in a scheme to undermine the results of the 2020 election (see below).

Trump seems to have instinctively seen that mug shot’s marketing potential. Moments after it was taken, he posted it on his Truth Social platform along with a fundraising link. Later, he shared it on X, in his first post to the platform in more than two years. The mug shot sparked a fundraising bonanza as Trump used it to represent his response to a “politically motivated” prosecution.

Trump’s official portrait, released yesterday, also bears a striking resemblance to the portraits of fascist strongmen in history. Here, for example, is Benito Mussolini:

And here’s Adolf Hitler:

Mussolini, Hitler, and other fascist leaders were more interested in being feared than loved. Apparently, the same is true for Trump. The Trump-Vance transition team, in a message accompanying their official portraits, said the photos “go hard.”