A Photographic Side-Trip
Some images from the White House Flickr pages that caught my eye.
I was perusing the White House Flickr feed looking for an image for a post I am working on, and came across a couple of shots that I wanted to quickly highlight.
For example, this one:
As a photograph, it is great as it captures a specific moment of absurdity and boredom on Musk’s part. It also draws attention to the ongoing insertion of Trump-branded symbology into American politics.
On the one hand, meetings suck (even important ones). But on the other hand, this is a meeting of the cabinet of the US government, and it is centered around merch.
You will note that at this cabinet meeting, everyone got “Gulf of America” hats.
And man, Rubio more often than not looks miserable while all the other members of Team Trump are having a grand time.
See, also.
But, again, Trump loves his merch. And actually, as I have noted before, I think the constant ways in which he brands himself, and not the country or the office, is not healthy nor appropriate.
This photo looks like the Easter Bunny is about to be sent to CECOT.
I know art is subjective, but sometimes it feels like the White House photographers are trolling Trump with some of these images, like the one above (and the one I used for the main photo for this post at the top).
For example, this is a really good photo, but the blurred foreground and the black and white make it look like Trump is both somewhat ominous and also in a bit of a fog. Although given his official photo and the way he has leveraged his mugshot, he may have requested ominous.
Not to mention the unflattering sideshot.
The unholy trinity of stupid health care policy.
Which is just a reminder of how much Trump likes TV charlatans.
Same theme, different TV charlatan.
Let me conclude on a geeky note. Is that the Genesis device?
They probably are. I know I would be. đ
Musk is wearing two hats for some reason and has a look on his face like he just shit his pants.
The Easter Bunny one is pure gold. $10 says its Rubio in that costume.
Also, and I know it’s gauche to comment about other blogs, but LGM has a picture of Trump where he looks gaunt, dirty and like my grandpa when the dementia started taking its toll. He looks small and tired.
He may be the only one serving in this administration who truly understands it is costing him his soul.
We should be so lucky.
I love this post – thanks!!!
Speaking of merch…anyone know where I can buy an 86-47 hat or t-shirt???
And I don’t know what you did, Matt, but the comments post immediately now.
@just nutha: Iâm sure they are. You can find a few pics from the Easter event where Trumpâs head is framed by the Easter Bunnyâs ears. That could not have been a mistake.
@Daryl: Mine came from Amazon.
I got the red one, it replaced my worn out 8645 shirt, which was in black.
Styles change.
@Daryl: Mine came from Amazon.
I got the red one, it replaced my worn out 8645 shirt, which was in black.
Styles change.
Plot twist. The Easter Bunny is actually Marco Rubio, lol. Prove me wrong.
@Beth: too funny that exact same first thought that pops in our heads.
@Jobeth: Not only not a mistake, hard to get framed well, too!
One thing that I’ve noticed, is that the photos that the press are using of the felon, shows him in a particularly unflattering photos. Some of it can be chalked up to, they are the enemy press, but even in those outlets that the egregious bothsiders and usually can be counted on to be at least neutral in their photo selections. But these are from the official WH flicker acct. LoL!!
@Beth: hey Bethâhow is everything going settling into the U.K.?
(Weâre still dealing with the idiocy of DOGE. Sigh.)
The fact of the matter is that it’s hard for any normie to not see what a fucking clown Trump is.
And even if you hate immigrants and gays and whatnot, Trump is orange by choice. Just think about that.
My God, what a time to be alive.
Iâm not nearly into photography to the extent you are, but my reaction is to this feed (which I didnât have in the 45 term) is how uncurated it seems to be. Usually, the shots are all âheroesââthe most outstanding ones captured. There are some truly amateur shots on here that could have been captured by a teenager with an iPhone 13.
@Sleeping Dog:
Donât overthink it. All photos of him are unflattering. None are flatteringâŠwell except the homo-erotic* fantasy paintings of him.
*I donât mean t offend anyone with that phrase but I donât know how else to describe them.
@James Joyner: I don’t think these Flickr accounts have ever been especially curated (I have followed them going back to Obama). It comes across to me as just a lot of photos being taken and then uploaded.
The set (Trump 2.0) is on track to be huge (already ~3300 photos posted in four months versus ~15k in 4 years for Trump 1.0 (and ~9.8k for Biden).
@Daryl: This. Even shots from the White House that are clearly supposed to make him look good often don’t.
I make you a counter-proposal. I’ll agree to your terms if, if, in addition to yourself, you hand over to me all data and material regarding the project called Genesis
@PT: Genesis. What’s that?
@Daryl: Homoerotic is fair enough. No complaint here.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Certainly in this timeline, hours can seem like days.
@Assad K: And it often feels like a no-win scenario.
Trump, the “merch” President. It’s all about the merch.
I suspect Trump uses Rubio as a doormat in private. His private punching bag.