--- title: Andy Thomas Republican Presidents Painting Features Trump description: When it came time to update his popular painting of Republican presidents, Andy Thomas struggled with how to fit Donald Trump in. canonical: https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-14T14:00:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:07.759Z article:section: Politics og:title: There's a Subtle Feminist Message in This New Painting of Donald Trump og:description: Look carefully in the background. og:url: https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede35e57c3e9f45d/69892ab1db2987b80325f154/the-republican-club-30x45-final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Andy Thomas Republican Club presidents painting Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There's a Subtle Feminist Message in This New Painting of Donald Trump twitter:description: Look carefully in the background. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede35e57c3e9f45d/69892ab1db2987b80325f154/the-republican-club-30x45-final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:58 video:published: 2018-03-13 section: politics topics: Space Force, U.S. military, space policy, Mars mission, rocket launches, war fighting domain, Air Force, Army and Navy, space leadership, Colonel Glenn genre: speech, news tones: boastful, casual, confident, promotional emotions: pride (high), enthusiasm (medium), amusement (low) sentiment: positive audience: general news audience, political followers, military and defense observers, space enthusiasts people: Donald Trump, Colonel Glenn organizations: Air Force, Army, Navy content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:58]; war [00:25-00:38] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # There's a Subtle Feminist Message in This New Painting of Donald Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c895d44c-9914-4d3a-ac14-49a9d1e862bf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Says the U.S. Should Someday Have a Military 'Space Force' [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Says the U.S. Should Someday Have a Military 'Space Force'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/a4UX8or2.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2018-03-13. President Donald Trump says there may someday be a “space force” fighting alongside the Air Force, Army and other branches of the military._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary In remarks to an audience, the speaker says the United States will lead again in space, pointing to rockets going up and a coming trip to Mars. He describes space as a war fighting domain like land, air and sea. He then floats the idea of a separate 'Space Force' alongside the Air Force, Army and Navy, saying he first mentioned it casually and was not really serious but then decided it might be a great idea. ## Key points - The speaker says the United States is going to lead again in space and make Colonel Glenn proud. (00:00) - He points to rockets going up 'left and right' and says that has not been seen for a long time. (00:08) - He says the country will be going to Mars very soon. (00:12) - He claims that going to Mars would not be under consideration if his opponent had won. (00:20) - He states that space is a war fighting domain, just like land, air and sea. (00:25) - He says the U.S. may even have a space force, alongside the air force, army and navy. (00:33) - He explains the idea came up because of the tremendous amount of work being done in space. (00:45) - He says he was not really serious when he first suggested it, then called it a great idea that may need to be done. (00:50) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:25] Leading again in space and going to Mars. The speaker says the U.S. will lead in space again, cites rocket launches, and says a Mars trip is coming soon. - [00:25 to 00:58] Space as war fighting domain, Space Force. The speaker calls space a war fighting domain and floats creating a Space Force alongside the other military branches. ## Key quotes - [00:25] Donald Trump: "Space is a war fighting domain, just like the land, air, and sea." - [00:33] Donald Trump: "We may even have a space force," - [00:12] Donald Trump: "Very soon we're going to Mars." - [00:50] Donald Trump: "I said maybe we need a new force we'll call it the Space Force." - [00:50] Donald Trump: "And I was not really serious and I said, what a great idea," ## Questions this video answers - How does the speaker describe space in a military context? [00:25] - What new military branch does the speaker propose? [00:33] - How did the idea of a Space Force originate according to the speaker? [00:45] - What does the speaker say about going to Mars? [00:12] - Which existing military branches does the speaker compare the Space Force to? [00:38] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:58]: Political remarks by a president, including a reference to his opponent and proposals for military organization. - war [00:25-00:38]: Describes space as a war fighting domain and proposes a Space Force as a military branch. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 14, 2018 2:00 PM UTC  Image of "The Republican Club" courtesy of Andy Thomas Image of "The Republican Club" courtesy of Andy Thomas by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 14, 2018 2:00 PM UTC When it came time to update his hugely popular painting of Republican presidents, [Andy Thomas](http://www.andythomas.com) struggled with how to fit Donald Trump in, but he knew that he belonged at the center of the frame. A self-taught cowboy painter in southwest Missouri, Thomas stressed that he’s no political expert, so he wasn’t quite sure how the 45th president would be received by his predecessors in an imagined meeting. “He’s outside the norm of Republicans and that makes it kind of interesting,” he told TIME. “Is he going to end up going in history as a great Republican or an abnormality or something? So it’s interesting. I just put him at the table, more or less the center of attention. We’ll let history decide. Or let the people decide. It’s not up to me.” Thomas said Trump was a little hard to paint because his light hair, tan skin and lack of dark recesses under his eyes make his face mostly just “a light warm color.” He also found it hard to give Trump a “genuine smile,” and had to redo the painting after his first take seemed off. Titled “The Republican Club,” the painting features Trump sitting at a table with GOP presidents Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. History buffs can also spot lesser-known GOP presidents such as Warren G. Harding in the crowd in the background as well. **Read More:** [_Why This Cowboy Painter Is Watching the 2016 Race Closely_](http://time.com/4226404/andy-thomas-presidents-poker-paintings-prints-posters/) The addition of a crowd in the background also led Thomas, an independent-minded Midwesterner who’s a fan of both Reagan and Bill Clinton, to add a subtle feminist message: A woman with indistinct features walking directly toward the table. The same woman also appears in a separate painting, “The Democratic Club,” that Thomas just finished.  Andy Thomas Democratic Club presidents painting Image of "The Democratic Club" painting courtesy of Andy Thomas “That will be the first Republican female president and the first Democratic female president,” he explained. “As I was doing the painting, I was thinking that these guys are kind of intimidating in a way. That’s the kind of woman that will be our first woman president; she’ll walk right up to that table.” Prints of the two paintings, revealed exclusively to TIME for the first time, will [go on sale](http://www.andythomas.com) sometime before the summer. Thomas began the paintings a little before the holidays, but he said the decision to include a woman was not a commentary on Trump or the [revelations about sexual misconduct](http://time.com/5015204/harvey-weinstein-scandal/) among political and business leaders at the time. Instead, he said it grew out of a more artistic decision. Made in 2008 at the suggestion of a gallery owner, his first political paintings featured eight Republican presidents and eight Democrats playing poker around a table at what appears to be a political convention. When giclee prints of those paintings turned out to be extremely popular in gift shops and galleries, he did a follow-up of the presidents playing pool, but he felt it was too closed-off and a little undemocratic. That led him to the decision to add a group of people in the background, which along the way led him to decide a woman would approach the table. “I’m an old-fashioned male,” he said. “But there’s a feeling of a good old boy’s network that I wanted to dispel. It just kind of came about.” Thomas, who has a son, three daughters and two stepsons, did admit one inspiration for the idea, however: His daughter, Jenny, who works in management at a manufacturing company. “Jenny would do that,” he said. “She’d walk right up there.” ## Transcript [00:00] In space the United States is going to do [00:04] Colonel Glenn proud. We are finally going to [00:08] lead again. You see what's happening, you see the [00:12] rockets going up left and right. You haven't seen that [00:14] for a long time. Very soon we're going to Mars. [00:20] You wouldn't have been going to Mars if my opponent [00:22] won. [ LAUGH ] That I can tell you. You wouldn't even [00:25] be thinking about it. [ APPLAUSE ] Space is a war [00:28] fighting domain, just like the land, air, [00:33] and sea. We may even have a space force, [00:38] develop another one. Space force. We have the air [00:40] force. We'll have the space force We have the army, [00:45] the navy. I was saying it the other day, cuz we're doing [00:48] a tremendous amount of work in space, I said maybe [00:50] we need a new force we'll call it the Space Force. And I [00:53] was not really serious and I said, what a great idea, [00:56] maybe we'll have to do that ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/"},"headline":"There's a Subtle Feminist Message in This New Painting of Donald Trump","datePublished":"2018-03-14T14:00:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:07.759Z","description":"You'll soon see prints of it in gift shops around the country","url":"https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/","keywords":["Art","History","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede35e57c3e9f45d/69892ab1db2987b80325f154/the-republican-club-30x45-final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede35e57c3e9f45d/69892ab1db2987b80325f154/the-republican-club-30x45-final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Andy Thomas Republican Club presidents painting Donald Trump","caption":"Andy Thomas Republican Club presidents painting Donald Trump","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/art/","name":"Art"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/","name":"There's a Subtle Feminist Message in This New Painting of Donald Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Says the U.S. Should Someday Have a Military 'Space Force'","description":"President Donald Trump says there may someday be a “space force” fighting alongside the Air Force, Army and other branches of the military.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/a4UX8or2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-03-13T22:00:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/a4UX8or2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/","duration":"PT58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5198306/andy-thomas-donald-trump-presidents-painting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```