Epic New White House Decoration Spotted on Wall Behind Trump: 'There Is a First Time for Everything'
There’s a new bit of art in a short hallway off the Oval Office that serves as a reminder of what President Donald Trump endured on his path to the White House.
The New York Post noted that its Aug. 25, 2023, front page, which featured a full-page photo of Trump’s Fulton County Jail mug shot, is now just outside Trump’s White House office.
The mug shot was taken at a point when some believed Trump could be at the nadir of his political chances.
He had just been indicted by since-disgraced Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis on charges of election interference, which added to federal election interference charges, federal charges related to the handling of classified documents, and a New York state criminal case in which Trump would later be convicted of falsifying business records, but not sentenced to any punishment.
The Georgia case is in limbo and the federal cases have been dropped
The mug shot was seen for the first time in photos taken during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s White House visit.
The mug shot became an iconic image for projecting Trump’s unconquerable determination to fight whatever was thrown at him.
Trump Mugshot is hanging in the hallway entrance to the Oval Office 🔥 https://t.co/nOsxLfKAvt pic.twitter.com/zPuoEmGA3R
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) February 14, 2025
During the presidential campaign, Karoline Leavitt, the current press secretary who was a Trump representative at the time, tried to define its impact, according to The Washington Post.
“President Trump’s mug shot serves as a reminder to the American people that Joe Biden is weaponizing our Justice Department against his opponent, and that despite enduring these unprecedented political attacks, President Trump continues to fight to secure our border, rebuild our economy, and end the chaos that Biden’s weakness has created around the world,” she said in 2024.
Trump noted at the time the photo was significant to him.
“You only get one shot,” he said, also commenting, “You don’t get to take it again.”
In a post on social media platform X, Fox News noted that, in hanging the image near the Oval Office, “President Trump is proving that there is a first time for everything after his famous mugshot was seen decorating one of the walls just outside the Oval Office.”
President Trump is proving that there is a first time for everything after his famous mugshot was seen decorating one of the walls just outside the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/k0MjdKF9aj
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 14, 2025
The image resonated with Trump’s supporters, some Virginia Tech faculty noted.
“Trump’s mug shot expression tries to convey strength and defiance, likely a strategy used to rile up his base,” Chad Hankinson, a political science commentator said.
“The likely interpretation for them is that he is fearless, powerful, confident, and undeterred by efforts to undermine him,” he said.
Post’s front page of Trump mug shot adorns wall outside Oval Office https://t.co/ZbdmotG6r5 pic.twitter.com/vXQ1kUx3B3
— New York Post (@nypost) February 14, 2025
“Trump’s expression in his Fulton County Jail mugshot expresses a certain disgust and contempt, which helps promote his narrative that this is an unjust, politically motivated arrest,” Cayce Myers, a public relations professor, said.
Trump noted the mug shot was not his idea.
“They insisted on a mugshot and I agreed to do that,” he said, according to Fox News. “This is the only time I’ve ever taken a mug shot.”
“It is not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong,” Trump said.
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