--- title: TIME Cover: The Story Behind the 'In Deep' Donald Trump description: TIME's Sept. 3, 2018 "In Deep" Donald Trump cover was created by Tim O’Brien. It is the third cover in a series made by the artist. canonical: https://time.com/5374572/donald-trump-time-cover-in-deep/ author: D.W. Pine article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-23T10:30:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:10.611Z article:section: Press Room og:title: The Story Behind TIME's 'In Deep' Donald Trump Cover og:description: There's a reason it looks familiar og:url: https://time.com/5374572/donald-trump-time-cover-in-deep/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00fc79fc27eab2f0/698938667cdbac429cd5dbc4/trump-triptych2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3111 og:image:height: 1750 og:image:alt: Tim O'Brien Time Magazine Covers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Story Behind TIME's 'In Deep' Donald Trump Cover twitter:description: There's a reason it looks familiar twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00fc79fc27eab2f0/698938667cdbac429cd5dbc4/trump-triptych2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Story Behind TIME's 'In Deep' Donald Trump Cover > Sponsored content. 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Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=0dcf1ac1-d680-4834-b8b9-911e2a6412fa&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=0dcf1ac1-d680-4834-b8b9-911e2a6412fa&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. It reaches 430,000 subscribers with a 50.7% open rate as of August 2026. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Creating the "Nothing to See Here" Trump TIME Cover [Watch (HLS stream): Creating the "Nothing to See Here" Trump TIME Cover](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/f04o94Ah.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2017-02-15. Artist and illustrator Tim O'Brien takes us behind the cover of the 2/27/17 issue of Time Magazine._  by [D.W. Pine](https://time.com/author/d-w-pine/)  ## D.W. Pine Pine is the Creative Director at TIME. Aug 23, 2018 10:30 AM UTC  The Feb. 27, 2017; April 23, 2018; and Sept. 3-Sept. 10, 2018 covers. The Feb. 27, 2017; April 23, 2018; and Sept. 3-Sept. 10, 2018 covers. Illustrations by Tim O'Brien for TIME  by [D.W. Pine](https://time.com/author/d-w-pine/)  ## D.W. Pine Pine is the Creative Director at TIME. Aug 23, 2018 10:30 AM UTC For the cover of the Sept. 3, 2018, issue of TIME, readers might notice something familiar. TIME collaborator Tim O’Brien, an artist who has been creating TIME covers for nearly 30 years, has added the next illustrative step visualizing the mounting troubles facing President Trump. The third cover in O’Brien’s series features a flooded Oval Office with the president floating above the water line. The depiction follows [the convergence of multiple distressing storylines for the president](http://time.com/magazine) this week. First among them: Trump fixer and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen’s claim that the president directed Cohen during the 2016 campaign to pay off two women to prevent them from speaking out about affairs they had with Trump. O’Brien says for this third cover whether Trump “would still be at his Resolute desk or not,” says O’Brien, a Brooklyn-based artist whose more than two dozen TIME covers over the years, include subjects ranging from the Catholic church to Osama Bin Laden. “I felt that it was too comical or perhaps morbid to see him sitting there. But to have him at the top suggests he’s still fighting despite the deepening issues.”  Illustration by Tim O'Brien for TIME “When I painted the [‘Nothing to See Here’ cover art](http://time.com/4672686/time-cover-trump-chaos/), like many, I assumed the level of chaos could not last,” says O’Brien, who used air brush, pencil, gouache and oil paint to create the original piece, published in February 2017\. But, he adds, “as the never-ending flood of breaking news washed over the White House, and the firings, the scandals and the general mayhem filled each news cycle, I felt the storm metaphor was as relevant as ever.” For the [April 23, 2018, issue of TIME](http://time.com/5236647/donald-trump-stormy-time-cover/), after the raids on Cohen’s office and home, O’Brien created a second cover. While the magazine has also created [a handful of other covers](http://time.com/4672686/time-cover-trump-chaos/) that visually reference previous ones, and [TIME’s iconic “X” treatment](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2069579,00.html) has run multiple times, O’Brien’s cover this week marks the first series of three covers created by TIME in its 95 year history. Outside of his 28-year relationship with TIME, O’Brien has created work which has appeared in publications all over the world, as well as several on U.S. postage stamps including the popular _Hunger Games_ trilogy. Two of his TIME magazine covers – one with Bill Clinton and Bob Dole and the other with the “Grand Old Populists,” both published in 1996 – reside in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. **_Read more:_**[ See _every TIME magazine with Donald Trump on the cover_](http://time.com/5098069/donald-trump-time-magazine-covers/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5374572/donald-trump-time-cover-in-deep/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5374572/donald-trump-time-cover-in-deep/"},"headline":"The Story Behind TIME's 'In Deep' Donald Trump Cover","datePublished":"2018-08-23T10:30:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:10.611Z","description":"TIME's Sept. 3, 2018 \"In Deep\" Donald Trump cover was created by Tim O’Brien. 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