Opinion: How the New Iconic Photo of Trump Exposes What He Really Cares About

Everyone knows the adage that a photograph is worth a thousand words.

The iconic image of Trump, fist raised and defiant, after the assassination attempt on his life last July, was widely believed to have played a significant role in his triumphant return to the White House.

Whatever your views on such a polarizing figure, it was an impressive reaction to an attack that could have paralyzed another person.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 06: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate Crop) U.S. President Donald Trump stands by as attendees help a guest after he collapsed during during an event on lowering drug prices in the Oval Office at the White House on November 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump announced that his administration has reached agreements with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk that would lower the price of some GLP-1 weight loss medications. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) — Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

But then it was all about Trump. He was exactly where he wanted to be, at the center of attention, albeit in a gunman’s sights.

On Thursday, another picture told a different story.

This time it wasn’t about Trump, but the tale it told was just as telling.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on September 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is expected to sign executive orders, including approving a partial sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations, following a 2024 law requiring parent company ByteDance to divest or face a ban. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) — Wolff described Trump’s inner circle as a “world of would-be teachers’ pets” who are looking to take advantage of his disinterest. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Behind him in the Oval Office, a man lay on the floor, surrounded by worried aides, including Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Trump stood at the Resolute Desk staring blankly at the cameras as the media was ushered away. There was no empathy for the stricken victim in his expression; it’s not a quality much associated with narcissists.

He looked more like a little boy whose party was cut short when the guests all left.

The Trump in the assassination photo won the grudging admiration of a nation.

The Trump who turned his back on a man in trouble was symbolic of something very different—a president who is indifferent to the suffering of his countrymen.

While he was overseeing a press conference extolling an expensive shortcut to lose weight (which he may or may not be using himself), his lawyers were arguing in court that they should not be forced to pay SNAP benefits to America’s poorest of the poor.

Flights were being canceled across the country because of the intransigence of lawmakers—and Trump—to compromise and end the record government shutdown.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been laid off. Likely, many won’t have jobs to return to.

Immigrants who came to the United States with hopes of a better future are living in fear.

Donald Trump — Scenes from an assassination attempt on the president’s life in July 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

These are the victims of Trump’s policies, struggling behind his shoulder.

To look back would be to accept that it’s not all about him.

It is not Trump’s fault that a man collapsed in the Oval Office. Of course not. And Dr. Oz said the president spoke to the man’s wife afterwards to check he was okay.

But there’s no hiding his immediate reaction to the incident.

The unnamed businessman fainted during the administration’s announcement that Medicare and Medicaid prices for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs would be cut next year.

Oz walked quickly across the room after noticing the man’s eyes rolling, catching him in a bear hug, and lowering him to the ground. He later said the man’s legs were raised to help his blood pressure.

President Donald Trumps stands up and looks on after a man fainted during an announcement about weight-loss drugs in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 6, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Trump turned for a moment and looked at the events unfolding just a few feet away. Then, he looked back to the front to watch the press being hurried out.

He appeared confused, perhaps wondering why the cameras needed to leave.

Take my picture.

The president also looked tired. He is 79. He just traveled halfway around the world to Asia. Air Force One, no doubt, has a comfortable presidential Naturepedic, but Trump’s got a lot of miles on that body, and it is showing some wear.

If the one thing Trump really cares about is himself, then the idea that a gentleman of a certain age is collapsing behind him is disconcerting to a Master of the Universe.

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump gestures as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during an event about weight-loss drugs in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 6, 2025. Trump announced deals Thursday with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower the prices of some popular weight-loss drugs. Both companies "have agreed to offer their most popular GLP-1 weight-loss drug," Trump said, "at drastic discounts." (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) — ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

It reminds him he is not invincible. His vanities are burning out.

This time it was not Fight, Fight, Fight.

It was Fright, Fright, Fright.

And maybe it is Thursday’s photo that will have more significance when the time comes to judge Trump’s legacy as a president … and as a man.

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Opinion: How the New Iconic Photo of Trump Exposes What He Really Cares About

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