Does Donald Trump Wear Makeup? Here's What His Former Aide Says

How Donald Trump achieves his signature orange glow is one of the big mysteries of the former president's distinctive appearance, and it's proved challenging for some makeup artists to recreate it. When Tom Denier was doing Anthony Atamanuik's makeup for "The President Show," he used a blend of orange shades, which he sprayed on Atamanuik's face while the actor was wearing goggles. This created pale Trumpian rings around his eyes. Atamanuik also gave Denier some notes on what he wanted his take on Donald's makeup to look like. "For lack of better terminology, he said, 'Make his mouth look like a butthole,'" Denier told Fashionista.

After Donald appeared at a 2018 rally with skin that looked unusually glossy, "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert tried to recreate the look in a makeup tutorial. He described it as "C-3PO crossed with a glazed ham," but he used a slice of bologna to blend his bronzer and gold highlighter. Kathy Griffin has also suggested that Donald's use of cosmetics is obvious. On "The Mary Trump Show" podcast, she described the way the former "Celebrity Apprentice" host smells by saying, "It's like body odor with, kind of like, a scented makeup products."

A former administration official told The New York Times that the tangerine tinge of Donald's skin comes from "good genes," not bronzer, concealer, or foundation. However, others who worked closely with Donald during his time in the White House have claimed he uses cosmetics.

In her book "Enough," former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson recalls advising Donald Trump against wearing a mask when he toured a PPE factory at the beginning of the pandemic. Trump wanted to know why, so Hutchinson pointed to her mask straps. "When he looked at the straps of his mask, he saw that they were covered in bronzer," Hutchinson writes, adding that Trump was annoyed because no one had previously warned him that makeup rubs off on masks.

Trump didn't just receive makeup advice from the women he worked with. In "I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House," former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claims that Trump actually borrowed some powder from her before giving a speech in Saudi Arabia. "The president felt he looked 'shiny,'" she writes. Grisham goes on to confess, "It thrilled me that during one of his most important speeches up to that point in the administration, the president of the United States was wearing my makeup."

Grisham insists that Trump doesn't tan, saying that his color comes solely from makeup. This tracks with what two of his former housekeepers told The Washington Post; they even revealed that Trump used the Swiss cosmetics brand Bronx Colors when they worked for him. But the best evidence of his makeup usage might be a 2020 photo of Trump sporting a collar stain that matches his skin color.

When a photo of Donald Trump looking markedly less tan made the rounds on social media in 2022, some people were convinced that his drastic change in appearance was the result of Trump stepping out sans makeup. The photo was snapped during a LIV Golf tournament at his Bedminster golf course, but not everyone was applauding him for going makeup-free at such a big event. "He looks like death," one person tweeted. "Trump has NEVER LOOKED WORSE," another wrote.

Trump just can't seem to win when it comes to his skin. If he seemingly leaves it alone, he finds himself on the receiving end of some brutal criticism. But he also gets roasted for wearing makeup. In 2016, one of his rivals in the GOP presidential primary, Marco Rubio, mentioned Trump's makeup usage while mocking him during a rally, per ABC News. Recalling what happened behind the scenes during a televised debate, Rubio said, "He was having a meltdown. First, he had this little makeup thing applying, like makeup around his mustache, because he had one of those sweat mustaches."

Jimmy Kimmel has also joked about Trump applying his makeup himself. During a "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" monologue, he suggested that Trump could use this talent to make some extra dough. "I would pay a lot of money to watch Donald Trump do a makeup tutorial on YouTube," he said. "He can make it his next pay-per-view event."