The latest TIME magazine cover showing President Donald Trump is being claimed to have been inspired by Arnold Newman’s 1963 photograph of convicted Nazi war criminal Alfried Krupp, as per Daily Beast. Many online too spoke about the similarities between the images.
“Trump’s latest Time magazine cover appears to have been inspired by one of the most chilling portraits of the 20th century…A 1963 Newsweek photograph of Alfred Krupp, a convicted Nazi war criminal,” a person on X wrote, sharing the two photos.
Notably, Trump had previously called out TIME magazine for its choice of photos of the president. Trump had expressed displeasure with the cover photo of him on Oct. 13, and criticized the low angle.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, Trump had previously called out TIME magazine for its choice of photos of the president. Trump had expressed displeasure with the cover photo of him on Oct. 13, and criticized the low angle.
{{/usCountry}}“Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time. They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one. Really weird! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out. What are they doing, and why?,” he had written on Truth Social.
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After Trump's rebuke, the latest cover photo shows the President sitting at the Resolute Desk, striking a power pose. His arms are folded into a V shape under his chin. The expression is reminiscent of the glare in his 2023 mugshot and subsequent presidential portraits, Daily Beast surmised. TIME, sharing the cover photo, wrote on X, “Trump's world. President Donald Trump talks to TIME about his efforts to end the war in Gaza.”
Is Trump photo inspired by picture of Nazi war criminal?
Trump's photo for TIME magazine was clicked by Washington-based photographer Steven Voss. He liked comments on Instagram where followers asked him if Trump's photo and Krupp's were related, as per Daily Beast.
“Are you referencing Arnold Newman’s portrait of Krupp here?”, a person had asked, which Voss liked. He seemed to have unliked it after that. Notably, while Trump's photo has been compared to the image of ‘Alfred’ Krupp, it is in fact Alfried Krupp, whose portrait is being spoken of.
Daily Beast surmised that the photographer seemed to confirm the reference with this gesture. The publication also reported it had ‘learnt of’ the link between the two photos. HT.com could not verify the link between Trump and Krupp's photos independently.
TIME, in a statement to the publication said “There is no connection and claims suggesting otherwise are completely untrue. The references for this photoshoot were past presidential portraits in the Oval Office, including TIME’s own covers. Giving weight to speculation on social media is reckless and contributes to the spread of misinformation.”
Who was Alfried Krupp and what to know about 1963 photo?
Alfried Krupp was the fifth and last family head of the vast Krupp industrial empire. He died in 1967. His family business employed slave labor and during Alfried's generation, the Krupps made Tiger tanks overran western Russia and North Africa. When Alfried took over, the Krupp plants were among Germany's largest employers of slave labor.
The plants also plundered wealth from Hitler-occupied Europe. He was convicted of war crimes at Nuremberg in 1948 and sentenced to 12 years jail. He had told the court he was ‘only doing' his duty. Less than three years after his conviction, Krupp was one of the 89 war criminals whose sentences were commuted as an act of clemency. He spent a total of six years in jail before he was released. Moving away from arms manufacturing, Krupp plants eventually became vital for West Germany's recovery, the New York Times had reported.
The 1963 photograph was taken by Jewish photographer Arnold Newman, for Newsweek. While he initially reportedly refused, Newman later had to agree. “When the editors asked me to photograph him, I refused. I said, ‘I think of him as the devil.’ They said, ‘Fine—that’s what we think.’ So I was stuck with the job,” he had told American Photo magazine.
When he did take the photo, Krupp was placed on a raised platform with a bleak industrial backdrop. He was reportedly asked to clasp his hands and lean forward, while being lit from below, which as per Daily Beast is a technique more reserved for horror films than portraiture.