On the third of February, 2017, the New York Times published yet another political cartoon by artist Patrick Chappatte titled “Donald Trump: Day 15”. The cartoon created by Chappatte, a repeating political cartoonist for the New York Times that has made cartoons nearly everyday focusing on the events of the election and the presidency of Donald Trump, aims to display many of the things that Trump has done as president within his first weeks of office. Through his exhibition of clever symbolism and allusion, Chappatte is able to show the destructiveness of Trump’s first days.
Most obvious to a viewer is that the White House oval office appears to be in shambles around Donald Trump. This unorganized mess symbolizes how Trump has been essentially “tearing up” Washington and the rest of the world with shattered glass on the floor, and a telephone tipped over. On a deeper level, the items such as the NATO poster with darts through it and the tearing of a European Union flag allude to Trump’s clear disdain for NATO as well as the EU. These feelings stir fear in the minds of many millions of people across the globe who are protected in some way or another under the provisions of NATO and those within the EU fear financial backfiring from the seemingly eventually disbanding of the organization. These feelings have only become more apparent as Trump continues his leadership.
Along with the items scattered about, Trump is seen speaking into a cell phone, uttering the words “give me another order to sign.” This is done in order to highlight how active he has been with in his first days in office, signing many executive orders, such as those that have removed the US from the TPP as well as the ban of thousands of refugees from entering the country. The backlash against these decisions is visible as there are many protesters outside the window into the oval office.
Overall I do believe that Chappatte displays some of the destructiveness of Trump within just his first days of office. Clearly, both his cartoon and my writing are biased, but I believe it is not difficult to see how much Trump has been changing the US, and as a result the world, in a matter of days.
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