Social media erupted with speculation after Donald Trump appeared at a campaign stop in Las Vegas with hair that looked noticeably fuller and more golden than usual, prompting widespread debate about whether the president had started wearing a hairpiece. Now professional hair experts have weighed in, and their verdict might surprise the internet.
The online frenzy gained momentum when journalist Aaron Rupar shared a video clip on X asking "Is Trump rocking a wig, or what the hell is going on here?" before following up with a side-by-side comparison to a Fox News appearance from the previous night that appeared to show a significant difference in volume. Commenters piled on, with one noting he looked like "Alec Baldwin playing Trump on SNL."
Despite the widespread conviction online that something artificial was going on, professional hair care specialists who spoke to HuffPost offered a rather more mundane explanation.
Dina Kales, a hair loss specialist with 22 years of experience and owner of The Top Shoppe in New York City, said she does not believe the president is wearing a wig or hairpiece. She pointed to the relationship between fresh hair dye and perceived volume as the likely explanation. As grey roots grow in, she explained, the lack of pigment can make hair appear thinner or patchy. When hair is freshly dyed, the contrast increases and the hair appears fuller, which she said would account for the visual difference observers were noticing.
Marcos Monje, a hair system specialist and barber at Ace of Fades 212 in New York City, agreed that styling techniques were the most likely culprit. Without having examined the hair in person he could not be entirely certain, he said, but from a professional perspective it appeared to be a matter of grooming, blow-drying and styling rather than a hairpiece.
Andrew Disimone, a wig specialist at Hair Place NYC, went further by putting a name to the technique. He described what he called a "cotton candy combover," a method involving growing hair as long as possible before spraying and combing it into place. He also pointed out that when Trump stands outdoors near Air Force One, the front of his hair visibly lifts in the wind, something that would be unlikely to happen with a properly secured hairpiece.
Wig specialist Sherry Schaefer added that if a toupee were actually involved, the execution would look quite different. "He needs more layers, less length and less hairspray would be a good start," she said.
The consensus among experts is that what the internet is seeing is not a wig but a combination of fresh dye, strategic styling and the physics of a very particular type of combover that has become one of the most recognisable hairstyles in the world.
