Time magazine’s latest inauguration-issue cover features President-elect Donald Trump sweeping President Biden’s belongings off the desk in the Oval Office. Biden’s signature aviator sunglasses are seen tumbling mid-air in the cover.
The cover, created by artist Tim O’Brien, marks his fourth illustration for Time spotlighting Trump. O’Brien’s earlier works depicted Trump at the desk amid rising water levels, a metaphor for the turmoil of his first term, the New York Times reported. This new piece continues the tradition, presenting the former president as a force of upheaval.
TIME's new Inauguration cover: Donald Trump's disruption is back https://t.co/f6thgzBMCY pic.twitter.com/LwsTz8sMyl
— TIME (@TIME) January 19, 2025
The accompanying article labels Trump, the incoming 47th president, as “an unpredictable force for change”, noting, “Whatever one thinks of him, he has altered America in ways unimaginable a decade ago”.
Trump supporters celebrated the cover as a symbolic reclaiming of authority. “The adults are in charge now,” one user wrote on social media, while another added, “Now then, let’s get down to business. There’s a huge mess to clean up.”
However, critics interpreted the image as a representation of Trump’s penchant for disorder. “Here comes the chaos,” a user posted on X.
O’Brien’s earlier works captured pivotal moments of Trump’s presidency. His first cover in February 2017, shortly after Trump’s initial inauguration, bore the caption “Nothing to See Here”. A subsequent 2018 cover, titled “Stormy”, referenced Trump’s scandal involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.
