With four days until President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the Trump-Vance transition team released the official portraits of Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance on Thursday.
For his second term in office, Trump appears with a stern expression and slight shadow on his face, with a portion of the American flag as a backdrop. Both his suit coat and his tie are blue. An American flag pin appears on his lapel. His facial expression in his newest presidential portrait is a stark contrast from his first term’s, when he was smiling.
Vance is shown in his portrait with a closed-mouth smile and his arms crossed, also with the American flag behind him.
Created once per term in office, presidential portraits are a longstanding tradition that date back to the first president of the United States. Since George Washington's last year in office in 1797, the portraits were typically oil paintings, but they switched to photographs when President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
They are displayed at the White House as well as the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Presidential portraits “signify the status and attainments of the person portrayed," according to the Smithsonian website. “But they also are deeply personal, even revelatory, portrayals that say something of the character of the man or woman who shows their face to the public.