Like all good retail politicians, Donald Trump knows the value of a single image – a moment captured in time that the subject would like to think encapsulates his or her essence, or at least how they want the public to perceive them.

Fans and detractors alike would vividly remember the photo snapped seconds after a bullet from a young would-be assassin grazed Trump’s ear as he addressed a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July last year.