Trump's Unflattering TIME Cover Is A Total Jumpscare: 'What A Terrible Pic'

TIME's tumultuous relationship with Donald Trump continues. Four months on from the controversial decision to name Trump as its Person of the Year (and expose his ongoing makeup fail), and two months after he threw a tantrum over TIME's Elon Musk cover in February, they've reconciled with an in-depth dive — that's actually more of a puddle, in reality — into the first 100 days of his second term. And, once again, it's placed Trump's embarrassing hair and makeup habits front and center, with an unflattering cover that's more a horror B-movie poster than a stately presidential portrait. Not surprisingly, netizens have spoken and the overwhelming consensus is, well, "What a terrible pic."

TIME's new cover: Donald Trump on his first 100 days https://t.co/sqsFwNucTd pic.twitter.com/7ckUDm0tZK

— TIME (@TIME) April 25, 2025

"This photo is a jump scare. Should have had a trigger warning," a detractor posted on X. "His lips look like a butthole," another decreed. "Look at the fresh coat of paint Dead-eyed Donnie slapped on his face. Also, I read the interview and he's a rambling, raging, inarticulate numbskull," a third opined.

Plenty of people agree with the latter sentiment. The maundering and inconclusive interview is littered with brags, bizarre claims, and more alternative facts than even Kellyanne Conway could shake a stick at. Amongst the many is the assertion that grocery prices have dropped. Not so. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs has increased by 7.9% year over year. And overall, food prices rose by 3% last mont alone.

TIME magazine's presidential exclusive reveals more about Donald Trump's fake tan fails and unflattering makeup mishaps than any achievements during his first 100 days in office. "Dealing with it," the cover line reads, under-delivering with an interview that meanders and bluffs rather than offering genuine insight into Trump's actual accomplishments.

"Many criminals — they emptied their prisons, many countries, almost every country, but not a complete emptying, but some countries a complete emptying of their prison system," Trump rambles at one point, parroting his much loved, repetitive (and thoroughly debunked) illegal immigrant claim, upping the ante from just South America to pretty much the entire world. "If you were walking down the street, and if you happen to be near one of these people, they could, they would kill you, and they wouldn't even think about it," Trump later insists. The Cato Institute, a right-wing libertarian think tank, begs to differ. It notes that data from the Department of Public Safety "consistently showed that illegal immigrants had lower criminal conviction and arrest rates than native-born Americans."

Still, enough with the alternative facts and more about Trump's makeup. The fake tan rages, with orange blotchiness highlighting his pink-rimmed eyes and thick, feathery white brows. Not a good look, all in all. Contemporary portrait photographer Martin Schoeller shot the TIME cover. According to his website, Schoeller's work "[challenges] a viewer's existing notions of celebrity, value and honesty." An interesting choice, given the interview's content.