The cover shows the White House Oval Office filled with water, with Trump’s head above water as he struggles to stay afloat, with the words “In Deep.”
Time revealed the cover just days after Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts, including tax and bank fraud, and Trump's former lawyer -- Michael Cohen -- reached a plea deal after pleading guilty to tax evasion and a campaign finance violation related to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.
O'Brien, a Time collaborator for over 30 years, said he wanted to explore the idea of whether or not Trump "would still be at his Resolute desk or not."
"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," O'Brien said.
O’Brien, an artist based in Brooklyn, also created the Time covers for issue “Nothing to See Here,” published two months into the Trump presidency, and “Stormy,” the issue released after news broke of an alleged affair between Trump and adult actress, Stormy Daniels.
TIME’s new cover: Inside Donald Trump's White House chaos https://t.co/hctIFEcOSG pic.twitter.com/1hSQNrY6JQ
— TIME (@TIME) February 16, 2017
"When I painted the 'Nothing to See Here' cover art, like many, I assumed the level of chaos could not last," O'Brien said. "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."
These three @TIME covers by Tim O’Brien over the past 18 months are pretty amazing. pic.twitter.com/FhiL1sP3sY
— Matthew T. Hall 📚 (@SDuncovered) August 23, 2018
the latest in the series of Trump Time covers 👀 pic.twitter.com/8mSEnB5ovQ
— David Mack (@davidmackau) August 23, 2018
The latest cover has already made history as the first series of three Time covers in 95 years.
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