What is Trump's Republican Presidents Painting?

It is Andy Thomas's 2018 painting 'The Republican Club,' which depicts Trump socializing with past Republican presidents including Lincoln, Nixon and Reagan, and which spawned a wave of Photoshop edits after being spotted hanging in the White House.

Where did Trump's Republican Presidents Painting come from?

A print of the Thomas painting was gifted to Trump by Rep. Darrell Issa and hung at the White House, where a 60 Minutes camera caught it in the background during an October 14th, 2018 interview.

What does Trump's Republican Presidents Painting mean?

Online, the painting became shorthand for Trump-era kitsch; editors used it to joke about his self-image and swapped in figures like Vladimir Putin to riff on the Russia investigation storyline that framed the 60 Minutes interview.

How do you use Trump's Republican Presidents Painting?

Users typically Photoshop a new figure into the lounge scene, such as Putin or Plaid Shirt Guy, or alter Trump's appearance so the painting no longer flatters him.

Is Trump's Republican Presidents Painting still popular?

The Photoshop wave was concentrated in mid-October 2018 around The Daily Dot's roundup, but the painting is still referenced whenever Trump's White House decor comes up in the press.

Trump's Republican Presidents Painting

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Published October 3, 2026

Trump's Republican Presidents Painting is Andy Thomas's 2018 artwork 'The Republican Club,' which shows a slimmed-down Donald Trump sharing drinks with Lincoln, Nixon, Reagan and other GOP presidents. After a camera panned past it during a 60 Minutes interview that October, Twitter users spotted the kitschy scene and turned it into a Photoshop playground.

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Overview

The source image is 'The Republican Club,' a 2018 oil painting by Missouri artist Andy Thomas that places Donald Trump in a smoky lounge beside Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and both Bushes1. Trump is painted thinner than life and seated at the center of the group, laughing with Eisenhower and Nixon while Lincoln looks on from across the table1. Representative Darrell Issa gave Trump a print of the piece, and it ended up hanging in a hallway outside the Oval Office2.

The meme version is almost entirely Photoshop based. Edits swap in figures like Vladimir Putin to needle Trump over the Russia investigation, insert random internet characters into the empty chair, or tweak Trump's proportions to undo the artist's flattery3. Part of the joke is the painting's own tone, critics compared the composition to the 'dogs playing poker' prints sold in tourist shops, so any addition reads as another layer of kitsch on top of an already kitschy scene2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

CBS 60 Minutes (source) / Twitter (viral spread)

Creator

Andy Thomas; Josh Billinson

Date

2018

Andy Thomas painted 'The Republican Club' as part of a series that already included a 2008 canvas of Republican presidents playing poker and a later companion image of Democratic presidents around a pool table2. Thomas told The Daily Beast that Trump was difficult to paint because of his skin tone and smile, but he made the president the focal point of the group anyway, and Trump personally called to thank him for the work2.

The painting entered the public eye on October 14th, 2018, when CBS aired Lesley Stahl's 60 Minutes interview with Trump about the Russia investigation and his first-term record1. A background shot in the broadcast caught the framed print on a White House wall, and journalist Josh Billinson tweeted a screenshot the same night with the caption 'oh my god, it's hanging in the white house,' which pulled in roughly 8,800 retweets and 25,000 likes1 3.

How It Spread

Billinson's tweet broke the painting out of political-art Twitter and into the general feed on the night of October 14th, 2018, and reply threads filled up with Photoshops within hours3. One early edit by @USMCLiberal pasted Vladimir Putin into the scene and picked up over 170 retweets and 1,700 likes, and @sincesept1980 posted a similar Putin version the same week1.

Other popular remixes pulled from the week's news cycle. @PromoteMyCause inserted the 'Plaid Shirt Guy,' a teenager reportedly removed from a Trump rally for pulling skeptical faces behind the president, into the group portrait, logging about 30 retweets and 310 likes1. @SheJStaz posted a version that reversed Thomas's slimming treatment and made Trump look heavier, which drew around 15 retweets and 200 likes1. The Daily Dot wrapped up the edits in a roundup piece the same week, cementing the painting as a short-run Photoshop meme3.

The underlying print also kept selling through Thomas's gallery, and the White House version stayed on the wall, so references to 'the Trump GOP presidents painting' kept resurfacing in political coverage long after the original 60 Minutes clip aired2.

Timeline

2008

Andy Thomas finishes the first painting in his Republican presidents series, depicting GOP presidents playing poker (without Trump).

2018

Thomas completes 'The Republican Club' with Trump at the center; Rep. Darrell Issa gives a print to Trump, who calls Thomas to thank him.

2018-10-14

60 Minutes airs Lesley Stahl's Trump interview; the painting is visible on a White House wall in the background.

2018-10-14

Josh Billinson tweets a screenshot of the painting, racking up roughly 8,800 retweets and 25,000 likes.

2018-10-15

Twitter users begin posting Photoshop edits, including Putin inserts by @USMCLiberal and @sincesept1980.

2018-10

The Daily Dot and The Daily Beast publish articles collecting the edits and interviewing Andy Thomas about the painting.

How to Use This Meme

The template is the Thomas composition itself. Editors typically keep the Trump figure and the lounge setting intact and then drop a new face into one of the chairs or into the empty seat beside Trump, with Putin, Plaid Shirt Guy and other 2018 characters being common picks3. Captions usually lean on the awkwardness of the original painting rather than adding new text.