‘Got What They Wanted’: Donald Trump’s Iconic Mugshot Lands Front Page of Newspapers

Former President Donald Trump’s instantly iconic mugshot dominated the front page of major newspapers throughout the nation on Friday morning.

The mugshot was confirmed authentic around 9:00 p.m. EDT Thursday after floating around Twitter for about an hour. First confirmed by CNN, the image spread like wildfire on social media.

Trump compounded the circulation by posting the image on Twitter. The tweet was the former president’s first since 2021.

https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023

Newspapers worked late Thursday to quickly add the iconic image to their Friday editions. In the morning, most newspapers printed the mugshot on their front pages, accommodating the late breaking news before it hit the printing presses.

Though the image landed in every paper, the newspapers placed it in different positions above the fold. The publications also ran distinct image captions.

The New York Post blew the image up to feature almost the entire front page with a small caption at the bottom: “Donald Trump glowers in the first mug shot ever taken of a president on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 Georgia election.”

Friday’s cover of the NYP pic.twitter.com/bXrlvxkpQU

— Wendell Husebø (@WendellHusebo) August 25, 2023

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a paper widely read in Fulton County, also printed Trump’s mugshot on its entire front page with the title “BOOKED.”

The New York Times printed the mugshot above the fold. But the image was placed on the side of the front page as the second lead story. “Trump Is Booked at Jail in Atlanta in Election Case,” the headline read.

The New York Daily News put Trump’s mugshot above the fold with the headline, “Enemy of Democracy.”

The Wall Street Journal published the iconic image above the fold in the center as the lead story. “Trump Booked, Stands for Mugshot,” the headline read.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed the image as the second lead story on the right column with a smaller image. “Trump Booked in GA.” the paper’s caption read.

VOZ, an American conservative Spanish-language newspaper, printed the image with the caption, “They Got What They Wanted,” a reference to Democrats’ alleged urge to capture a Trump mugshot.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.