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From scalp surgery to hair products, here's what his family has to say.
By Emily Blackwood — Written on May 07, 2020
For decades, the hair follicles on Donald Trump's head have plagued us with confusion and questions. We've all wondered about its coloring and stiffness and, thanks to his daughter, we might finally have gotten some answers.
Why does Donald Trump's hair look weird?
In an excerpt from Michael Wolff's 2018 book, Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House, none other than Ivanka Trump reportedly revealed the president's styling secrets. And, more than that, she even joked about it.
"For Ivanka, it was all business — building the Trump brand, the presidential campaign, and now the White House," Wolff wrote. "She treated her father with a degree of detachment, even irony, going so far as to make fun of his comb-over to others.
He went on to write, "She often described the mechanics behind it to friends: an absolutely clean pate — a contained island after scalp-reduction surgery — surrounded by a furry circle of hair around the sides and front, from which all ends are drawn up to meet in the center and then swept back and secured by a stiffening spray.
The color, she would point out to comical effect, was from a product called Just for Men — the longer it was left on, the darker it got. Impatience resulted in Trump’s orange-blond hair color."
For a long time, many people believed Trump's hair was a toupee. Some had even estimated that it was worth about $2 million dollars.
An inside source revealed that the president's hair is not own and that it costs tens of thousands of dollars to maintain. That source was never confirmed.
In 2011, Trump said in an interview that he keeps up his hair with a very common hair product. "OK, what I do is, wash it with Head and Shoulders. I don’t dry it, though," he said. "I let it dry by itself. It takes about an hour. Then I read papers and things."
He added, "I then comb my hair. Yes, I do use a comb... Do I comb it forward? No, I don’t comb it forward. I actually don’t have a bad hairline. When you think about it, it’s not bad. I mean, I get a lot of credit for comb-overs. But it’s not really a comb-over. It’s sort of a little bit forward and back. I’ve combed it the same way for years. Same thing, every time."
It seems the real reason Trump's hair is so weird is due to the fact that he had surgery on his head to make it smaller. However, the bald spots didn't totally go away, so he has to spray his hair every morning to make sure every follicle is carefully in place.
Scalp reduction, also know as alopecia reduction, is "a high-density appearance by removing the areas of the scalp that are experiencing hair loss." This means that a surgeon cuts away areas of the scalp that are balding and then stretches the skin that still grows hair and sews it back together.
In a book published years ago, writer Harry Hurt III brought up the scalp surgery with even more shocking allegations.
Hurt claimed that he had obtained a copy of Ivana Trump's sworn divorce deposition, in which she claimed the president sexually attacked her because he was in such pain from the procedure. He allegedly had the surgery in 1989.
Trump denies the rape allegations and has not commented on Ivanka's comments about his hair.
However, Ivana made a somewhat vague statement in 2015 where she said that there was no merit to the story.
In the statement, she said, "I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit.
Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president."
Emily Blackwood is a freelance writer, editor and journalist who covers small business, pop culture, travel, health and wellness.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on January 4, 2018 and was updated with the latest information.