Guess Who Hung This in His Office

Maybe you spotted this in President Trump's 60 Minutes segment? It's a print hanging in his office called "The Republican Club" that depicts Trump fraternizing with other US presidents including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Abe Lincoln in a private club, the Daily Beast reports. The framed image was apparently a gift from Rep. Darrell Issa—or so says Andy Thomas, the artist, who tells the Washington Post he was thrilled to receive a complimentary phone call from Trump a couple of weeks ago. "I remember he said he's seen a lot of paintings of himself and he doesn't usually like them," says Thomas. "He liked that one." Thomas adds with a laugh, "I hung up and said, 'I'm too good to go out and finish mowing the lawn.'"

Thomas mostly paints Western scenes ("cowboys and Indians," he says) but has a thing for group-presidential portraits that sell in gift shops—like "The Republican Club," a print of Democratic presidents playing poker, and one of Republicans playing pool. He says little of his own politics ("I challenge people to look at the paintings and see if they can figure it out") but admits he idealized Trump's appearance a little: "...[I] try to shed the pounds where I need to," he says. "Or smooth some lines. I did it with every figure." Critics are calling the work "kitschy" and "garish," notes ArtNet, while one Twitter user not-so-kindly added Vladimir Putin over Trump's shoulder. "There—I fixed it," he writes. (Trump also told 60 Minutes that he thinks the climate "will change back again.")