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Viewers of President Trump's interview on "60 minutes" Sunday night were surprised to see him hold a court and shout in front of a group of former GOP presidents.
The surrealist scene was captured in a well-known and updated painting – "The Republican Club" by Andy Thomas – hanging on a wall of the White House.
The president sits with Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush.
Standing behind them, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford and Teddy Roosevelt. Even Calvin Coolidge hovers nearby.
Trump, dressed in his red tie and ubiquitous white shirt, seems to be sharing a joke with the group while a glass of what seems to be his favorite drink – Diet Coke – is sitting next to his arm.
With the exception of Honest Abe, who holds a glass of water, the others all drink alcoholic beverages.
Thomas told the Daily Beast that the representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Had handed the work to the president.
"He had actually given me a real call to tell me how much he loved him," said Thomas about Trump. "He was very appreciative. He stated that he had seen many paintings of himself and that he rarely liked them.
The artist painted a similar version of the scene – starring Democratic presidents – suspended at the White House. His first play, which he completed in 2008, included Republicans – less than Trump – playing poker.
The self-taught Missouri cowboy painter said he did not know how the 45th president would be received by his predecessors at an imaginary meeting.
"It's outside the Republican norm and that makes it pretty interesting," he told Time magazine recently.
"Will he end up in history as a great Republican or an anomaly? It's so interesting. I just put it at the table, more or less in the center of attention. We will let the story decide. Or let people decide. It's not mine. "
Thomas said it was a challenge to paint Trump because his light hair, tanned skin and lack of wrinkled wrinkles under his eyes make his face is for the most part "just a slightly warm color".
He also struggled to give the president a "sincere smile" – and had to start from scratch after his first try seemed suspicious.
Thomas's painting also includes an important feminist message: we see a woman in the shadows heading towards the seated presidents. She also appears in her other book, The Democratic Club.
"It will be the first Republican presidential woman and the first female Democratic president," Thomas told Time.
"While I was painting, I thought these guys are pretty intimidating. This is the kind of woman who will be our first woman president. She will walk to this table. "
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