The official portraits of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have been published

The official portraits of US President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance have been released ahead of their inauguration on Monday.

Both Trump and Vance are pictured wearing blue suits, white collared shirts and blue ties, with Trump wearing a small American flag lapel pin.

Trump’s facial expression contrasts with Vance’s, with the president-elect’s head tilted slightly downward, one eyebrow raised and his lips pursed.

Vance smiles at the camera, his arms crossed in a more relaxed pose.

Trump’s new look has drawn comparisons to a 2023 photo of him taken in the Fulton County Jail after he was accused of trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Joe Biden in the state of Georgia, a charge Trump has denied.

The now famous image was used by Trump to raise funds for his campaign.

The Trump-Vance transition said in a press release that the portraits “go hard.”

The portrait chosen by Trump this time is markedly different from the one in 2017, when he first became president.

Although he is wearing similar clothing, he is smiling broadly at the camera in the previous portrait.

“Trump may be taking on a demonstrative image, turning a moment of legal adversity into a symbol of resilience and strength,” Quadrikos Driskell, a political science professor at George Washington University, told the BBC.

“The stark contrast to his earlier, more traditional portrait could also signal a shift in his public persona, underscoring a tougher, more militant stance as he prepares to take office for a second term.”

The portraits were released by Trump’s transition team days before Trump and Vance’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

The official portraits of Trump and his former vice president, Mike Pence, were released just nine months after they were sworn in.