Official portraits of Donald Trump and JD Vance published

The official portraits of US President-elect Donald Trump and his second-in-command, JD Vance, were released ahead of his inauguration on Monday.

Both Trump and Vance appear in blue suits, white collared shirts and blue ties, and Trump wears a small American flag pin on his lapel.

Trump’s expression contrasts with Vance’s, with the president-elect’s head tilted slightly downward, one eyebrow raised and lips pursed.

Vance smiles at the camera, arms crossed, in a more relaxed pose.

Trump’s new image has drawn comparisons to his 2023 mugshot, which was taken at the Fulton County Jail after he was accused of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in the state of Georgia, a charge that Trump denied.

Trump used the now famous image to raise funds for his campaign.

The Trump-Vance transition said in a news release that the portraits are “going hard.”

The portrait Trump chose on this occasion differs noticeably from the image used in 2017, when he first assumed the presidency.

While wearing a similar outfit, she smiles widely at the camera in the portrait above.

“Trump may be adopting a defiant image, transforming a moment of legal adversity into a symbol of resilience and strength,” Quardricos Driskell, a political science professor at George Washington University, told the BBC.

“The stark contrast to his previous, more traditional portrait could also signify a change in his public persona, emphasizing a tougher, more combative stance as he prepares to take office for a second time.”

The portraits were released by Trump’s transition team just days before Trump and Vance’s inauguration on January 20.

The official portraits of Trump and his former Vice President Mike Pence were not released until nine months after they were both sworn in.