- The White House released a new official portrait of President Donald Trump on Monday.
- The dramatically lit photo shows Trump against a dark backdrop with a serious expression.
- Unlike most contemporary presidential portraits, the background doesn't include an American flag.
President Donald Trump's new official White House portrait does not feature an American flag in the background. It's the first presidential photo in over 60 years without one.
Taken by chief White House photographer Daniel Torok, the dramatically lit photo shows Trump against a dark backdrop with a serious expression. The style hearkens back to the past presidential portrait styles of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Calvin Coolidge, who also appeared unsmiling against dark backgrounds.
And while there is no flag behind Trump in his new portrait, he is wearing an American flag pin on the lapel of his blue suit, a tradition that began with President George W. Bush's photo.
A portrait of Trump released earlier this year, which did feature an American flag, was taken during the presidential transition period and "was always meant to serve as a placeholder," a White House official told Business Insider.
The new photo is one of several aesthetic changes Trump has made to the White House in his second non-consecutive term. In the Entrance Hall, he moved President Barack Obama's painted White House portrait across the hall and replaced it with a painting depicting his raised fist following an assassination attempt. He has also added numerous gilded gold furnishings to the Oval Office and expressed interest in paving over the lawn in the Rose Garden to create a terrace he's said would be better suited for large events.
Take a look at how presidential portraits have changed through the years.
President Calvin Coolidge, 1923
President Herbert Hoover, 1929
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933
President Harry Truman, 1945
President Dwight Eisenhower, 1953
President John F. Kennedy, 1961
President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963
President Richard Nixon, 1969
President Gerald Ford, 1974
President Jimmy Carter, 1977
President Ronald Reagan, 1981
President George H.W. Bush, 1989
President Bill Clinton, 1993
President George W. Bush, 2001
President Barack Obama, 2009
President Barack Obama, 2013
President Donald Trump, 2017
President Joe Biden, 2021
President Donald Trump, 2025
President Donald Trump, 2025