This can become a question of why, and under what circumstances, you are displaying your gun.
If you are you displaying your gun to intimidate someone,
to assure that someone keeps his distance or leaves, to secure his compliance, etc., your display could well be seen as a threat. And that sure seems to be your most likely purpose in displaying your gun, at least as you've posed the question. Or are you suggesting that you're displaying your holstered gun just so someone can admire the craftsmanship of your fancy grips?
The usual definition of assault, based on the Common Law, is:
an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.
In the laws of some States this crime might be given another name. For example, in Alabama it's called "menacing." But by whatever name it is called, it is a crime in every State.
So a display of a firearm or telling someone you have a gun, when done for the purposes of intimidation, is, in all States, an assault of some type. You are effectively putting someone in fear of an imminent harmful or offensive contact, i. e., getting shot.