C-SPAN Unveils Trump Portrait

Donald Trump is going on a nationwide tour courtesy of your local cable operators or at least a likeness of him.

C-SPAN, the suite of public interest platforms funded by the cable industry, has unveiled a Trump portrait that will join 43 others in C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits exhibit that has been touring the country since 1999, when it was created as an adjunct to the Peabody Award-winning series of the same name.

All the paintings are by a single artist, Chas Fagan, whose credits also include the official canonization portrait of Mother Teresa.

Fagan says that Trump's eyes were the toughest part of the portrait, telling C-SPAN: "In most photos, his eyes are in shadow and difficult to see, in part due to his distinctive brow line. But eyes are such a recognizable feature, and necessary to give a portrait warmth and personality, so I worked to give them a bit more prominence."

The free exhibit has followed the campaign trails of the last five presidential elections, including debates, primaries and convention cities.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.