Reporters and camera crews were staked outside of Donald Trump’s appearance in a Miami federal court on Tuesday. But despite all the flashbulbs, there was one crucial, all-important image that Americans never got to see: the former president sitting inside the courtroom.
Cameras were not allowed inside the building, so courtroom sketch artists filled the gap. These artists had ample time to study the face of a man whose image has been inescapable for the last eight years. But, according to critics on Twitter, some of the images looked nothing like the man.
Take this sketch tweeted by frequent Trump foe and CNN correspondent Jim Acosta.
Trump in federal court today via sketch artist Bill Hennessy. pic.twitter.com/uk2f1i6c9q
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 13, 2023
Sure, the artist nailed Trump’s favorite posture: sitting hunched-over and cross-armed like a petulant child who was just denied dessert. But the face and hair are a full catfish. Trump looks decades younger, with neater hair. It is just the type of photo Trump would call the most beautiful painting in the history of America, and hang at Mar-a-Lago.
Where did that orange tan go? Looks like it slid off his face and on to the shading behind him, framing the former president with a ghastly yellow glow.
Elizabeth Williams has worked as a courtroom sketch artist for over 40 years, working on the trials of Ghislaine Maxwell, R Kelly, Bernie Madoff and Martha Stewart. But even for such a hardened veteran, Trump’s likeness is tricky to nail.
“His likeness can be elusive,” Williams said. “He doesn’t have a lot of defining features, other than the tan face and the hair. Michael Cohen and El Chapo had the same thing. It can be challenging.”
According to Williams, Trump has bags under his eyes, crow’s feet, and some lines around his nose – but overall, his face is not as weathered as the average 77-year-old. “He has a very difficult face to capture,” she said. “I’m looking at my picture right now, and that doesn’t look like a 77-year-old man. I don’t know how much plastic surgery Trump has had, but that face does not look 77.”
In court, Trump’s lawyer did all the talking. Williams says he spent the entire proceeding with his arms crossed, staring at the floor. In the resulting image, he looks like a young Wall Street type, out to dinner on the company card, just waiting to complain about something, anything.
Jane Rosenberg, an artist working with Reuters, went the gargoyle route, depicting Trump as menacing and monstrous, with slight Richard Nixon jowls. The blue eyes are piercing, looking one of those Renaissance portraits that’s always staring at you, no matter where you stand in the room.
As David Smith wrote in the Guardian on Tuesday, Americans deserved to see Trump face federal charges as it really happened, with full cameras and audio. Or, at the very least, we do not deserve these fanciful renderings of Trump – or whoever that man in the pictures is.
