It's hard to picture Donald Trump without his signature tangoed skin and wisps of peroxide hair. While the US president has repeatedly denied the rumours that he uses fake tan, his face rarely looks, how do we put this, au naturel.
Since his return to the Oval Office in January, we have been seeing a lot more of his face, which has prompted a new wave of (hilarious) Google searches. One of which being, 'Donald Trump without makeup', while others want to know more about his 'tan' and his 'wig'.
While we are unlikely to see Trump drop his skincare routine in a viral #GetReadyWithMe video anytime soon – although stranger things have happened – intrigue surrounding his appearance does not seem to be dying down.
Last December, Buzzfeed shared an article titled, 'The Progression Of Donald Trump's Apparent Bronzer.' The following month, The List shared a YouTube compilation of 'Donald Trump's Most Glaring Makeup Fails.' A recent meme shows an AI-generated JD Vance applying Cheetos powder to the President's face (and then into his mouth). Other popular pieces muse over his 'makeup mask' and his 'panda eyes' and there is a Reddit thread dedicated to 'Trump makeup', which declares 'this is NOT political!' in its title.
It's true that fascination with Trump's tawny face is not inherently political. It sits alongside his menacing and extremist politics and almost unites us all in curiosity. His team might insist that he doesn't use any makeup – something that wouldn't be believable even if the results were discreet, because everyone on TV wears matte powder – but we remain collectively unsatisfied.
His neck often shows a distinct line where the orange tone ends and his paler skin begins. What's strange is that, despite being one of the most photographed men in the world and someone who has maintained the same 'aesthetic' for three different campaigns, there are no pictures of Trump having his makeup done.
Is this because a photo of Trump having his face contoured would hurt his reputation? That doesn't seem like something he would be concerned about. Does he have a phobia of ring lights? It's always a possibility. Is he, to go back to the original question, ever seen without his satsuma complexion? Apparently only on the golf course.
Trump's makeup routine is a riddle that remains unsolved. It would be so easy to explain what, how or why his face is so two-toned (and why his 'panda eyes' are not), but the fact the president and his A-team choose not to feels intentional. Perhaps all the chatter about whether he uses bronzer or not is a handy distraction from his more nefarious antics – if so, sadly it's working.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).