Trump's return, PM Modi's carpool & Pikachu: Images that defined world politics in 2025
SOURCE:Times of India|BY:KARAN MANRAL
2025 was dominated by Donald Trump's return to the White House, with striking photographs capturing his inauguration and key diplomatic encounters. The year also saw significant moments like Trudeau's resignation, hostage releases, protests in Nepal, and strategic alliances forming between global leaders.
Putin-Modi 'carpool'; Trump's inauguration
In a year of seismic shifts — from Donald Trump's White House comeback to PM Modi-Russian President Vladimir Putin's diplomatic carpools and Nepal's fiery protests — cameras captured the raw drama of global politics.
These photographs, blending power, protest, and unlikely alliances, encapsulated 2025's turbulent geopolitical pulse.2025 was, in many ways, Trump's year. As the holder of the world's most powerful office — its power amplified in no small measure by Trump himself being the incumbent — he cast a long shadow over global affairs, ensuring that much of the year's political drama revolved around him.It is therefore no surprise that several of the year's most striking political photographs feature Trump.
However, compelling images also emerged from elsewhere in the world, capturing moments of power, protest, and political churn far beyond the United States.Here's a look at the photos that defined world politics in 2025The inauguration: The image of Trump taking the oath for his second presidency felt surreal, even though he had already won the November 2024 election. The Republican was sworn in as America’s 47th commander-in-chief.
Donald Trump with his family at his inauguration
Tech billionaires, assemble: Not strictly a political photograph, yet taken at a political event—Trump’s inauguration. Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg seated together, a striking display of tech leaders alongside political power.
Tech billionaires at Trump's inauguration
Trudeau’s sun fades, finally: A visibly dejected Justin Trudeau, facing rising unpopularity and mounting pressure within his party, announced on January 6 that he would resign as Canada’s prime minister and as Leader of the ruling Liberal Party, effective once a new leader is chosen for both roles, bringing his third term and 11-year premiership to an end.
Freedom, at last: Emotions ran high on January 19, as Hamas released three Israeli women, the first hostages to be freed from the 251 taken to Gaza during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Their release ended 470 painful—yet hopeful—days of separation for them and their families.
Released Israeli hostage Romi Gonen (right) with her mother
Released Israeli hostage Emily Damari (in green) and her mother
Released Israeli hostage Doron Steinbrecher (left) and her mother
The spat: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a tense first White House meeting with Trump on February 28. With the world’s press watching, Vice President JD Vance confronted Zelenskyy for “not thanking” the US for supporting Ukraine against Russia, and Trump later questioned his counterpart’s choice of military-style attire.
Zelenskyy and Trump during their infamous Feb 28 meeting
‘Pikachu’ in Turkey: The image of a Turkish demonstrator, who came dressed as the much-loved cartoon character Pikachu on March 28, made the Pokemon an unlikely face of resistance during protests against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on alleged corruption charges.
Turkey's 'Pikachu' protester
The Alaska red carpet: Trump and Putin, meeting for the first time in the US leader's second term, walked side-by-side for talks on Ukraine in Anchorage.
The talks, held on August 15, ended without a breakthrough, but Putin stole the spotlight, using English in a rare such instance: “Next time in Moscow.”
Trump's red carpet for Putin
‘New world order’ and the ‘carpool’: In images clearly intended as a message to the West, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was photographed alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin, China, on September 1.
Putin, PM Modi and Xi at SCO summit
In another notable moment, PM Modi and Putin “carpooled” to the summit venue, arriving together in the Russian leader’s ultra-luxury armoured limousine—a gesture that would be reciprocated a few months later.
PM Modi and Putin's first 'carpool'
Xi’s show of strength: On September 3, Xi Jinping projected power as he welcomed both Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Beijing, marking the first time the three leaders appeared together in public.
The occasion was a massive Chinese military parade commemorating 80 years since the country’s victory over Japan in World War II.
Putin, Xi and Kim at China's grand military parade in Beijing
Nepal burns: After Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024, it was the turn of India’s third neighbour, Nepal, to see citizens rise up against the incumbent government. On September 9, the youth-led protests escalated dramatically, as the prime minister resigned and the Himalayan nation’s parliament was set on fire.
Nepal's Parliament on fire during 'Gen-Z' protests
Caught on camera: One moment speaking, the next shot—fatally. Right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a campus event on September 10, the killing captured on video, shocking the US political landscape.
Charlie Kirk moments before he was fatally shot
The ‘apology’: In a photo released by the White House, Trump held the phone as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman. The September 29 call was an “apology”—perhaps even a scripted one, as Netanyahu appeared to read from a paper—for Israel’s unprecedented strikes in Doha targeting Hamas leadership, angering both the US and Qatar.
Photo released by White House of Netanyahu's 'apology'
The ‘boss’ is here: Perhaps no other image captured the power of the US presidency more starkly than the one from the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13. Trump arrived after keeping more than two dozen world leaders waiting, then addressed the gathering as they stood behind him—a striking display of American primacy.
Trump and other world leaders at Gaza peace summit in Egypt
Al-Sharaa at White House: The US president's office was the site for yet another striking image of the year - a former terrorist at the White House.
On November 10, Trump hosted Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara’a for the first presidential visit to the US by a leader of the civil war-torn country.
Ahmed al-Sharaa with Trump at White House
‘You can just say yes’: Trump’s November 21 meeting with bête noire and New York City mayor-elect
Zohran Mamdani
ended sans any drama. When a reporter asked Mamdani whether he still believed the president was fascist, Trump appeared to sense his guest’s hesitation and interjected, “It’s OK, you (Mamdani) can just say yes.”
Mamdani and Trump at White House
Carpool 2.0: PM Modi broke protocol to personally receive Putin upon his arrival in Delhi for a two-day visit on December 4. They travelled from the airport to the PM’s residence— in the prime minister’s own official vehicle—a role reversal from their previous shared ride.
Putin and PM Modi's 'Carpool 2.0'
The ‘Epstein files’ and the spotlight: In images circulated worldwide, figures such as Donald Trump (with nothing incriminating implied), Bill Gates, Britain's former royal Andrew, and Bill Clinton, among others, appeared in photographs first released periodically by a congressional Oversight Committee and subsequently by the US Department of Justice on December 19.
Together, the releases reinforced how convicted sex offender Epstein’s case continues to cast a long shadow over elite networks, raising enduring questions about accountability, influence, and institutional silence.
Trump in Epstein Files
Bill Clinton in Epstein Files
Bill Gates in Epstein Files
The ‘prince’ returns: Thousands of people lined the streets of Dhaka on December 25 to welcome Tarique Rahman, son of ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, back to Bangladesh after 17 years in London.
Rahman is widely expected to become the country’s next prime minister following the general elections in February 2026. Zia, the nation's first woman PM, passed away on December 30.
Tarique Rahman in his bulletproof bus in Dhaka
Tarique Rahman in Dhaka
What 2026 has in store?
2026 will be the second year of Trump’s final term, leaving him with two more years as the holder of the world’s most powerful office—ample time to shape events on a global scale. Other world leaders will also be looking to assert their influence. The coming year, therefore, promises new—hopefully positive—images, unexpected moments, and defining events that will continue to capture the world’s attention.
