We do not know if Donald Trump’s hairdresser and makeup artists blow-dried and primped the former US president on his flight from Mar-a-Lago to Atlanta, but it seems likely. By the time he surrendered at Fulton, like that other fading star Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, Trump was ready for his close-up. The celebrity mugshot, after all, is more about performance art and political statement than mere police documentation.
Trump makes the best of what he has. Or his people do. Is it possible they brokered a deal with the sheriff to change the wattage of the overhead lightbulb to make it less harsh? Boldly leaning forward so we can study his thatch, and see where toupee ends and pate begins, it’s a performance that perhaps, like his hairpiece, is poised to become unstuck. The red-rimmed eyes suggest tiredness. Perhaps – let me dream – he’s been crying over his comeuppance. And the sternness of the expression seems almost self-satirising.
