Last August, as Person of the Year runner-up Donald Trump was establishing himself as a real contender, the candidate agreed to pose with a bald eagle for a TIME cover story. The idea came from Martin Schoeller, the award-winning portrait photographer and frequent TIME contributor who shot the cover.

The eagle’s name, for the record, is Uncle Sam, and he’s 27 years old.

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GIF by Mia Tramz for TIME

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