President Donald Trump‘s appearance raised fresh questions after his hair appeared to return to its usual thin look just a day after he debuted a noticeably fuller, darker hairstyle that fueled online speculation he was wearing a wig.
Trump appeared at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with his familiar wispy, light blond coif, a sharp contrast to the fuller, strawberry-blond hairstyle he displayed while speaking at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas on August 5. His appearance also more closely matched the thinner hairstyle seen during a Fox News appearance.
Journalist Aaron Rupar wrote on X, “Is Trump rocking a wig or what the h*** is going on here?” adding, “Trump’s hair has a lot more volume than normal.”
Political commentator Brian Krassenstein posted the same day, “There is no freaken way that this is Trump’s real hair. NO WAY!”
A pattern of changing hair
Trump’s hairstyle had already appeared noticeably different over several days.
During a Fox News News at Night appearance on August 4, his hair looked thin, as it typically does. On August 2, strong winds exposed more of his scalp than usual as he boarded Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey after a weekend of golf. His hair also appeared thinner during a Cabinet meeting on July 31 at Camp David in Thurmont, Md.
By contrast, at the August 5 Las Vegas event, Trump’s hair appeared thicker, fuller and styled into a distinct crest with a darker strawberry-blond hue than his usual platinum tone.
Speaking on the “Inside Trump’s Head” podcast, co-host Joanna Coles asked biographer Michael Wolff, “What is that on his head that he debuted last night, Michael? It looks like a hamster.”
This is not the first time Trump’s hair has drawn attention. During a speech at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, his hair appeared to have a pink tint.
London-based hairstylist Gustav Fouche, a Wella Master Colorist, said that the coloring “could be related to toning.”
Fouche explained, “To achieve a silver or lighter blond look, violet tones are often added to neutralize yellow.”
He added, “However, if too much violet is used or it’s left on slightly too long, it can shift the color and make the hair appear pinkish rather than cool or neutral.” Fouche also said stage lighting or reflections from a red backdrop could create a similar effect.
Trump’s hair has long been a subject of public fascination. He acknowledged having a bald spot while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland in 2018, telling attendees, “I try like h*** to hide the bald spot, folks. I work at it.”
During a 2016 appearance on Jimmy Fallon‘s late-night show, Trump allowed the host to rustle his hair on camera, joking about how the moment might play with voters he was about to meet in New Hampshire. As far back as 2015, Trump denied wearing a toupee, insisting, “I don’t wear a toupee. It’s my hair,” and even invited a woman onstage at a campaign event to inspect it herself.
Trump’s hair also appeared to have returned to its usual look later on August 6 during a White House reception honoring Winter Olympians and Paralympians.
During the Oval Office event, Trump also signed executive orders aimed at narrowing birthright citizenship and targeting so-called birth tourism, continuing his administration’s broader immigration agenda following a recent Supreme Court ruling that blocked an earlier version of his policy.