When a painting of United States President Donald Trump holding a beacon of light at the helm of a boat making its way through a swamp outside the White House went viral on social media, many were calling it "propaganda".
The painting is a revisionist version of the famous George Washington Crossing The Delaware painted by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze back in 1851.
But speaking to the ABC's The World program, American artist Jon McNaughton said he only does what true artists have always done — paint what he really feels.
"You know, it's interesting that word 'propaganda' — it brings up ideas of Nazi Germany and Chairman Mao," McNaughton told the ABC.
"The difference between that kind of art and what I do is that I'm a citizen, I paint what I want.
"I'm not being hired by the state to paint something to prop up a certain idea, this is my personal feelings and how I feel about things."
'Trump is Trump. And he changes his mind sometimes'
But his latest release, titled Crossing The Swamp, caused a polarising stir on social media when it was put out a couple weeks ago, with Mr Trump's supporters hailing the image while others criticised the painting or posted their own mocking adaptations of the original image.
McNaughton, who transitioned from a Ted Cruz supporter during the 2016 Republican primaries to a strong supporter of the president, said that he had been fostering the idea of a swamp-themed piece since Mr Trump pushed the idea of "draining the swamp" throughout his 2016 campaign.
"They are manoeuvring the swamp, crossing it instead of trying to drain it — which seemed appropriate given everything that's happening," McNaughton said.
"A lot of Americans identify with that [George Washington] comparison and history will decide whether Donald Trump is one of the most important presidents, but right now I think he can have very important ramifications for the future of our country — so we'll see what happens."
While many have slammed Mr Trump's use of Twitter as non-presidential, McNaughton said that it is "remarkable" how he can use the platform to express his thoughts.
"Trump is Trump. He's going to say what he thinks at the time. And he changes his mind sometimes," McNaughton said.
"Every time he seems to get himself into a hole he comes out of it squeakily clean in my opinion."
McNaughton has also chimed in on arguably Mr Trump's most pressing issue, the Russia investigation.
Trump stands up for 'The Forgotten Man'
While many people have just become aware of McNaughton's work through his pieces on Mr Trump, his past works — particularly his paintings during the Barack Obama administration — attracted him a range of supporters.
In his painting Expose the Truth, McNaughton portrays Mr Trump grasping Special Counsel Robert Mueller by his tie and examining him through a magnifying glass.
"When I painted that picture, the idea was now Trump can turn the table on Mueller and he's holding up a magnifying glass to his face saying that 'we're going to look a little closer at you now'," McNaughton said.
Fox News host and close ally of Mr Trump, Sean Hannity, is an avid admirer of McNaughton's art and has purchased a number of his original works — including The Forgotten Man, a demographic Hannity said Mr Trump had stood up for with his victory.
McNaughton said that after Mr Hannity's comments, the theme of The Forgotten Man — which he painted in 2011 after being inspired by Mr Obama's Affordable Care Act and his belief that many Americans did not want the legislation at the time — became intrinsically linked with the Trump administration.
"Trump puts a large focus on improving the economy and making things better for your average American citizen and he's done that through the tax cuts, he's done a lot of deregulation with small businesses, trying to make trade fairer in America and trying to secure our borders," McNaughton said.
"So in many ways he has helped the forgotten men and women of America to have the things that he promised — that's how I see it."
McNaughton said that he hopes Mr Trump continues to be successful, and that he will "continue to use his paintings to say how I feel about what's going on".