Six images that tell the story of Trump’s wild summer

Good evening! Look, before you ask — I don’t know who Vice President Kamala Harris is going to choose as her running mate, but we are all going to find out soon. Tonight, we’re looking at former President Donald Trump’s topsy-turvy summer with someone who has literally seen it all: my colleague the photographer Doug Mills.

Over the last month, former President Donald Trump has been shot at and crowned for the third time as the Republican presidential nominee. He has watched his opponent, President Biden, get forced out of the race, and has struggled to find his footing as he sizes up his new competition, Vice President Kamala Harris.

And let’s not forget that he was convicted of 34 felonies this year.

My colleague Doug Mills has been there for all of it. In recent weeks, the drama of the Biden campaign may have been the biggest story in politics. But Doug, a photographer who has been taking pictures of presidents since the 1980s, says that what he is witnessing is a campaign unlike anything he has covered before.

So today, while the political world waits for the final, veep-shaped puzzle piece in the newly reset race between Trump and Harris, we’re going to do something a little different. I called Doug, who was spending a rare day off the trail painting a bedroom in his house, and asked him to tell us about the images he thinks will define Trump’s roller coaster of a summer. Our conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Doug! You have been there for every huge moment that has shaped the Trump campaign in the past few months, from his criminal trial, through the assassination attempt, to today. How does he change when your camera comes out?

Every politician — everybody who is very image-conscious, like he is — is aware of every camera whenever they’re around. He’s looking at camera angles and what the light is like, and he’s very particular about light.