Trump Is Troll in Chief, and It Is Hilarious

“Convicted Felon” Donald Trump just released his presidential portrait, and it is, without doubt, the funniest thing I have seen today. 

It is basically his mugshot, with better lighting and the American flag behind him. 

Perfect!

Trump sported a familiar stone-faced stare in his official portrait revealed just days before he makes his White House return. https://t.co/su69yGqMkK

— Axios (@axios) January 16, 2025

Today must be the day for trolling his enemies because he also announced that he has appointed three conservative actors to be his ambassadors to Hollywood. I hope he provides a residence, diplomatic immunity, and Marine guards for each of them. 

BREAKING: Trump just appointed Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to Hollywood, California. pic.twitter.com/Cx3WFHQqUJ

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 16, 2025

This is trademark Trump, which used to stump most people, but obviously the American people as a whole are either used to it or understand that this is his trademark humor. Humor that has a point behind it, but still funny as hell if you get the joke. 

The official portrait is basically an F-You to the #resistance and a reminder that he is watching out for them this time and was not at all amused by their attempts to figuratively and literally assassinate him. It’s funny because it plays off what was supposed to be the kill shot for his political career: the famous mug shot. 

“What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

As for Hollywood–it really has become something of a separate country in which celebrities believe they have all the power and prestige, and Trump is treating them as the aliens they are in his view. He is even offering to help the foreigners come up to American standards as it were. 

No doubt these moves will outrage all the right people. Trump isn’t serious! Trump is a felon! Trump is unpresidential. 

And, to be honest, on this last one the truth is that he isn’t presidential. Trump doesn’t play by the establishment’s rules because the establishment has screwed everything up while focusing on pants creases, Ivy League degrees, impressing world leaders at Davos, and setting the world on fire. 

Trump is a populist, and the populous is his audience, not the hoity-toity. As somebody who grew up in the elite, it often makes me cringe too, but at this point, it will take a populist to right things. 

Populism is not the best form of politics there is–it relies on unleashing the passions and empowering the ignorant at times. But when the “experts” and the “educated” have created a mess and are committed to destroying the country, populism is the natural and healthy reaction. When the system is broken, it needs to be swept aside and replaced. 

Frankly, after seeing Trump’s first term, I worry much less about his populist impulses; he seems to know when to be a bull in a china shop and when to apply a bit more nuance. Mostly, anyway. And the tasks he faces are so monumental that incrementalism is exactly the wrong way to go. 

Trump’s trolling his opponents has a deeper purpose: it helps keep MAGA together even when Trump seems to deviate from the path that they expect. He is reminding them that his enemies our ours and that he is fighting for us. 

And, don’t forget–it’s funny.