JD Vance sported a messy eyeliner look while hitting a golf course during his trip to the United Kingdom. Vance and his family flew to Scotland, where they stayed at the Carnell Estates, which includes a 14th-century mansion. While there, he stopped by Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Course to get in a round. The vice president repped the administration by wearing a black Trump Turnberry mock-neck sweater over a striped blue and white golf shirt. He also sported a pair of khakis, white golf shoes, and a dark blue Titleist hat. Various photos were taken of Vance playing the round of golf, which he appeared to be taking seriously; action shots caught him looking intense after a couple of shots. The intensity in his eyes was further highlighted by dark makeup-looking circles, as the VP appeared to have packed on the eyeliner for that round. People have grown accustomed to his (rumored) eyeliner-enhanced look, but what stood out was the color of Vance’s beard.
For most of his time on the links, the Titleist hat hid Vance’s hairline, but his graying hair was exposed. Perhaps wanting to let loose on the UK trip, the VP had grown out his beard, and that made his gray sideburns stick out. The silver portions were not limited to the sideburns, as Vance also had a patch of gray on the sides of his beard.
Maybe he was stressed about the protestors who had gathered during his visit to Scotland, but the gray hair is recent development that people online have noticed.
Theories about JD Vance’s gray hair
The stresses of being in office have seemingly taken a toll on JD Vance early in his term as vice president. A few weeks before his trip to the United Kingdom, people on X noticed that he was turning gray. “JD Vance always have gray sideburns? That’s a crazy start to going gray tbh,” one X user wrote in July. Shortly after, a video on X went viral of the “Hillbilly Elegy” writer shaking hands with factory workers and posing for photos. It wasn’t the interaction with workers that caused a stir, but the fact that part of Vance’s hair and beard looked silver. “JD Vance hair is turning gray faster than any politician I have ever seen. I can’t imagine the things he has already seen,” wrote a user who posted the vid. This caused people to weigh-in on the veep prematurely entering his silver fox stage. “He just stopped dying it, it was already gray pre vp nomination,” one person speculated.
JD Vance hair is turning gray faster than any politician I have ever seen. I can’t imagine the things he has already seen. pic.twitter.com/QEUfozefPP
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) July 28, 2025
The graying hair may be a somewhat new development, but there were plenty of times when Vance’s eyeliner stood out during his run to becoming Donald Trump’s running mate. When he appeared on CNN in May 2024, viewers suspected the Ohio Senator had used extra makeup for the camera. “So, umm, is JD Vance wearing eyeliner and shadow?” an X user asked in a post that went viral. Unlike the hair dye theory, Vance’s suspected eyeliner usage was not limited to his time running for office. “Why does J.D. Vance feel the need to wear eyeliner?” a member of the Twitterati wrote in March alongside a screenshot of the vice president speaking to the press.
