In the United States, there are many matters concerning its presidents that are considered "state matters" and that remain guarded under the category of "classified" for years. Luckily, it has not taken long for the secret of Trump, the current president of the nation, to be made public: every day he dedicates time and effort to covering up his baldness.
Although, to be honest, the revelation has not been a huge surprise since the president's hair styles have always been, at the very least, suspicious. The certainty that Trump is indeed bald has provoked - as it could not be otherwise, in the case of this protagonist - multiple comments and an intense debate in which, of course, the president has not hesitated to take sides.
Trump's hair as media content
However, it is not the first time that Donald Trump's hairstyle has taken up many minutes in the media or sparked popular debates. In September 2016, in the midst of the election campaign, the then candidate had no qualms about addressing, along with the key points of his electoral programme, the issue of his peculiar hair style.
On that occasion, his pompadour was the focus of the interview with the popular presenter Jimmy Fallon, who “got excited” and jokingly asked him: “Now that you are not yet president, can I mess up your hair?”, to which Trump, perfectly aware of the positive effects that well-managed entertainment could have at the polls, agreed without any problem. After “ruining” the elaborate hairstyle, it was clear to millions of viewers that Trump's hair was, indeed, all “his”.
Likewise, a few hours after winning the elections in which he was facing Hillary Clinton, videos and tutorials began to proliferate that showed step by step how to make the hairstyle of the 45th president of the United States of America at home.
The video revealing Trump's secret
Now, once again, the president's hairstyle is in the spotlight, this time due to a video recorded while Trump was boarding Air Force One, coinciding with the moment when a strong gust of wind was destroying the structure of his hairstyle, revealing that, beneath those perfectly placed locks that he always sports, there is a significant bald spot, which extends from the crown to the nape of his neck. The video went viral in a matter of minutes, has surpassed three million views and has given rise to an endless number of "memes", comments and discussions around the subject, also raising other collateral questions such as, for example, whether Donald Trump wears a wig or not.
The analysis, almost “with a magnifying glass”, to which the president's hair was subjected showed, among other things, that the photos of Donald Trump as a young man show a special fondness for “loading” the front part, increasing as the years went by and which has led to the peculiar and characteristic toupee that he currently sports. The “revelation” of what happens at the back of his head may give meaning to the theory that Trump's hairstyle is intended to direct all attention to the front part and, thus, conceal the lack of hair on the crown.
Does Trump wear a wig? A question (almost) of state
This hair debate was joined by protagonists such as the American doctor Harold N. Bornstein, who has been treating the president for more than three decades and who has ruled out that he wears a wig. He has acknowledged that Trump takes drugs to combat hair loss and also revealed that he has rosacea, a skin problem that requires treatment.
In this context, in the controversial book “Fire and Fury”, written by Michael Wolff and which has raised dust in the US, which goes into some of the most thorny aspects of the president, there is also space for his hair problems. Specifically, the author tells how Ivanka, Trump's closest daughter, has commented on more than one occasion that the elaborate hairstyle that her father sports has its origin in a hair surgery operation that he underwent several decades ago, when this technique was not yet as developed as it is now, to tackle his alopecia problem and with which he did not obtain the desired results.
No further details are known about this intervention and it is also not clear whether it was a hair graft or another type of surgery in the area.
“Mix” of locks and other strategies to cover baldness
In addition, in the work, Michael Wolff analyzes in detail the peculiar configuration of the president's scalp: “The bald spot that was left as a result of that operation is surrounded by a circle of hair at the front and sides. The hair grows in such a way that all the hairs converge in the center of the head. He combs them back and fixes the hairstyle using hairspray.”
Aside from Wolff's research work, Trump had already recognized on some occasion that he often resorts to the benefits of hairspray as an ally of his look.
More opinions on the subject: according to some stylists interviewed by the French agency AFP in the wake of the “bald gate,” everything points to the president resorting to a hair system devised by him that consists of inserting into his natural hair curler and slightly unruly locks (which give body to the whole), held in place with a fixing product.
Whatever the case, the hair that Mr. President sports is the result of an amalgam of hair styles in which nothing is missing: interlaced hair, backcombing, blow-drying, fixing techniques and even what could be a “by Donald” interpretation of Californian highlights, since his hair is interspersed with white, yellow and orange tones…
Covering the bald spot, a daily effort
And to all this, how has the protagonist reacted? Well, he was delighted to be the centre of attention again. In fact, he had no qualms about introducing the issue in an environment so little related to hair aesthetics as the 45th Annual Conference of the Conservative Political Action to comment, upon seeing a close-up of his head on the screen: “Hey, look, what a good image. I would love to see that man speaking.” And in the face of the bewildered reaction of the attendees, he continued with his stylistic confidences: “I try by all means to cover the bald spot, friends. “I work hard on it every day, but I will continue to strive to perfect the result. Anyway, it’s not so bad, right?”
