Donald Trump might love screaming “fake news” at everything that moves, but here’s something that’s undeniably real and not at all fake: the man is always orange. Before he made the leap from reality TV host to commander-in-chief, he’d already coated himself in varying shades of pumpkin. You can yank the vibrant red MAGA hat off his head, but good luck getting that spray tan off his skin. And since most of us have forgotten what he looks like with a normal complexion, we teamed up with Static Media’s photo editors to give him a little glow-down. Spoiler alert: without the orange tint, he actually looks err, a wee bit more youthful. Who knew?
But why is Trump so committed to that orangey glow? He insists it’s not the tanning spray or a makeup blunder that’s at fault but rather all lights focused on him during his public appearances. “The lightbulb,” he said during a Baltimore policy retreat in 2019. “People said: what’s with the lightbulb? I said: here’s the story. And I looked at it. The bulb that we’re being forced to use! No 1, to me, most importantly, the light’s no good. I always look orange. And so do you! The light is the worst.”
Really, Trump? We’re supposed to believe it’s the lightbulbs that are making you look like a Cheeto with hair and not the (presumably) gallons of spray tan or maybe a little extra time under the tanning bed UV rays? Either way, we gave him a digital makeover to strip away that “Jersey Shore”-esque glow, and wow, the result made him look a few years younger.
Trump looks rather youthful with his normal complexion
Who knew a little Photoshop magic could dial down Donald Trump from orange to… almost normal? After the Static Media photo editors tweaked his skin tone to what it could look like without all that fake tan, Trump actually appears — wait for it — slightly younger. As it turns out, he glows more with his natural complexion than he ever did with an orange tint.
Now, we’re not holding our breath for Trump to admit his tan is anything but au naturel, but former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman dished in her book that, apparently, tanning is part of his daily routine. Yup, every single day. “He prefers to do it in the morning so he ‘looks good’ all day,” she wrote in “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.” Then again, White House insiders claimed to The New York Times that there’s not a single tanning bed or spray tan booth on the premises. So, where exactly is he getting his glow from? We’re not saying it’s a mystery, but it’s not like he’s out there soaking up the sun.
One thing’s for sure: if Trump wasn’t running for president for the umpteenth time, he might actually have a real tan. “I tell you what, I had a good life before I did this. Nobody was shooting at me. I had a hell of a life. Oh, those locations… I could’ve been sunbathing on the beach,” he told the crowd in a Wisconsin rally in September 2024. “You have never seen a body so beautiful. Much better than Sleepy Joe.” Well, Trump, if you ask us, maybe skip the sunbathing — unless you want to look like your old, orange, and pruney self again.
