The Burning Question About Trump That Even High Schoolers Want The Answer
Donald Trump navigates politics like he navigates a reality TV show — prioritizing spectacle over facts, causing controversy for attention, and utilizing full glam for public appearances. For years, Trump's makeup has made just as many headlines as his politics. A gust of wind at a campaign rally in Michigan in 2020 lifted the president's hair high enough to reveal the stark contrast between his orange face and pale hairline, while Trump's greasy hair wisps and caked-on makeup for his 2025 TIME cover had everyone roasting him. The world has become accustomed to the head of state's tangerine exterior so much so that a jarring makeup-free White House outing in 2025 showed Trump's age.
One reason Trump possibly uses makeup is to conceal his rosacea, and he supposedly changed the White House lighting settings to keep his orange visage from being so noticeable while he's being filmed. However, it seems there isn't enough lighting technology in the world to make him look natural. All in all, the president is not fooling anyone, especially a group of teenagers on a visit to the Capitol, who had one very specific question about Trump's appearance.
In May 2025, a group of high schoolers met with GOP Congressman Representative Brian Jack at the Capitol. During a Q&A, one student asked a question that was obscured by their own giggling. When Jack couldn't understand and asked the teenager to repeat the question, several students called out, "Why is he [Trump] so orange?" (via X). Leave it to teenagers to be as direct as possible.
The question of Trump's orange-ness is one many have asked
While the question was most likely meant as a gag, the crowd was quiet after the high schooler's probing — suggesting the audience really wanted to hear Representative Brian Jack's answer on Donald Trump's skin tone. "Uh, that's, you know what, it's, it's, it's your perspective," the congressman said, stumbling over his words somewhat.
The high schooler is not the only one wondering if Trump uses fake tanner or makeup. The fascination behind the president's beauty habits has become a major talking point in pop culture. The video of the Q&A, posted on X, garnered almost 800,000 views in a week, and the very question "Why is Donald Trump orange?" generates 186 million Google results.
Trump's team and inner circle — the same people who attack drag culture — have always steered away from the topic of the president's makeup. One anonymous senior administration official told The New York Times in 2019 that Trump's orange countenance is due to "good genes," but then admitted that Trump puts on a translucent powder when he's on TV. It's safe to assume since then that the translucency of his powder has become more of a muddy foundation on top of a pumpkin glow. As he approaches 80, Trump's hair and eyebrows have noticeably whitened, and against the rusty shade of his makeup, the president's appearance becomes more and more indistinguishable from the fictional Willy Wonka's Oompa-Loompas.