Trump's 'absurd efforts to conceal his hair loss' were revealed for a brief moment — and it helps solve the mystery of his hair

pulse

February 7, 2018 7:18 PM

A gust of wind blew apart President Donald Trump's elaborate hairdo.

A new video features a gust of wind ruffling President Donald Trump's carefully placed hair.
The video seems to displace a flap of hair that covers a bald spot on the back of his head.
It adds fuel to the theory that Trump had a hair transplant years ago.

Many have wondered, but nobody knows what exactly is going on with President Donald Trump's hair.

We're now closer than ever to the truth, thanks to a new video.

The video captures the president ascending the steps of Air Force One on Friday to head to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the weekend. It was a windy day, and Trump was positively buffeted by a crosswind that dislodged a flap of hair covering the rear of his head, pushing it forward and revealing a conspicuously bare section.

Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said it revealed Trump's "absurd efforts to conceal his hair loss."

The video — which some have dismissed as fake or doctored — seems to have been taken by Reuters TV and reposted in part on YouTube by The Stranger, a Seattle alternative weekly newspaper.

Pictures taken that day seem to corroborate the video. A tweet from Ashley Feinberg, a journalist, first called attention to the video:

The Real Donald Trump

The bare back of Trump's head adds fuel to a longtime rumor.

Many — including a hair-transplant surgeon who spoke with Business Insider in 2015 — have speculated that Trump had a hair transplant at some point in his life, most likely in the '80s or '90s.

During a transplant, hair is taken from the sides and back of a person's head to put on the top. For whatever reason, these hairs are more resilient to the hormone that kills hair follicles and causes hair loss.

Surgeons typically use something called FUE, or follicle unit extraction, to transplant individual hair follicles, but it's unclear what technology was available decades ago. It's possible that Trump, if he had a hair transplant, had entire strips of hair taken from the rear of his head and put on top. That could explain the bareness — and why he seems to grow his hair so long.

Trump also takes the hair-loss drug finasteride, often prescribed to patients after a hair transplant to prevent additional hair loss.

So there you have it, the best explanation yet for what exactly is happening with Trump's hair — at least until another gust of wind reveals more.

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