Donald Trump’s freshly coiffed hair has sparked jokes about a Christmas elf from Rudolph, but his estranged niece says the punchline could hide a much more serious concern.
Donald Trump’s distinctive blondish-red hair has been scrutinized almost as long as he has, and if there’s one thing the president has made clear over the years, it’s that he pays attention to what’s happening on top of his head.
During his 2015 presidential campaign, Trump was so determined to shut down speculation that he wore a wig that he invited people to touch his hair, while two years later, the view from behind prompted a surprisingly candid admission.
“I try like hell to hide that bald spot,” he told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, according to the Independent.
Now, however, Trump’s freshly styled hair has caught the attention of someone much closer to home – his estranged niece Mary Trump, who sees something beyond the obvious jokes.
The elf from ‘Rudolph’
Mary, 61, is the daughter of the president’s late older brother, Fred Trump Jr., and has become one of the most outspoken critics within the Trump family.
A psychologist and author, she has written extensively about her relatives and the family dynamics she believes helped shape her uncle, including in her 2020 book “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”
Her attention recently turned to something considerably more visible after Trump appeared in Las Vegas with freshly coiffed hair that looked noticeably fuller than usual.
The change didn’t escape Mary.
During an appearance on SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah’s YouTube show, she couldn’t resist comparing her uncle’s new look to a certain blond-haired Christmas character.
“I’m not going to say anything about whether it looked good or not. I don’t really care,” Mary said. “However, he looked like Herby the Dentist from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer –that was my takeaway.”
The resemblance Mary was apparently referring to was Hermey, the blond elf from the 1964 Christmas special who famously dreams of becoming a dentist.
And she wasn’t alone in doing a double take.
‘Trump has a weave!!’
As images from Trump’s Las Vegas appearance spread online, his unusually voluminous hair quickly became almost as much of a talking point as his speech.
“Is Trump rocking a wig, or what the hell is going on here?” one X user asked, after previously sharing: “Trump’s hair, uh, has a lot more volume than normal.”
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger also jumped into the speculation, writing: “Trump has a weave!!”
Another person was considerably more creative with their assessment, joking: “It looks like it escaped from a laboratory in Venezuela.”
But while the jokes focused on whether Trump had discovered a wig, weave or simply a new way of styling his famous comb-over, Mary’s interest in the change went somewhere much more serious.
It reminded her of her grandfather.
Troubling family connection
Trump’s father, real-estate developer Fred Trump Sr., suffered from dementia later in life, with medical records disclosed during a family court battle showing he had been diagnosed with early dementia in 1991. Before his death in 1999, his condition later progressed to Alzheimer’s disease, according to The Washington Post.
Mary has previously spoken about witnessing the deterioration of her grandfather – who she once called a “sociopath” – including the changes surrounding his hair.
Expanding on that in her interview with Obeidallah, she recalled that as her grandad’s condition progressed, he would color his hair and “leave the dye on too long. So, he would end up with a magenta mustache. Oh, the horrors,” Mary said. “So, [family members] literally would stop bringing my grandfather out in public.”
Obsession with hair
But for Mary, the more telling comparison was her grandfather’s changing relationship with his hair.
“What’s really interesting about it to me is that my grandfather had a receding hairline from the time he was a teenager. And he was always very self-conscious about it. He still had a decent amount of hair when he was in his 80s. But then he got Alzheimer’s and suddenly he wanted more hair. So, he got a very ill-fitting toupe,” she explained, adding “And my family, especially Donald, found this absolutely embarrassing.”
Seeing her uncle suddenly sporting a dramatically fuller hairstyle apparently brought those memories rushing back.
“And now here’s Donald potentially. I mean I don’t know if it was really a wig or what, I don’t know if it’s hair in a can – I don’t know. But suddenly being all obsessed about his hair kind of like his dad.”
Obeidallah also raised that the POTUS is now “around the same age” that Trump Sr. “first saw signs of dementia, “so maybe this is part of the dementia,” he said.
What do you think about the comparisons Mary Trump has made between Donald Trump and his father? Please let us know your thoughts and then pass this story along so we can get the conversation going!
READ MORE
- Donald Trump’s niece Mary reveals what ‘terrifies’ him most and claims he’s in a ‘downward spiral’
- Mary Trump has chilling warning for US about president’s plan
