The great Trump tan conspiracy: the possible meaning behind his orange obsession
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A photo editor has explained the mystery behind former president Donald Trump’s varying uses of bronzer.
The tan tones of the businessman and Home Alone 2 star have been under much scrutiny throughout his political career, with countless memes dissecting their colour range.
American photo editor Emily Elsie shared her theory behind the ever-changing colour palettes, and explained she believes the intensity of hue is directly correlated to the politician’s stress levels.
Although photographs of Trump’s tan lines have prompted ridicule, similar to mockery over JD Vance’s alleged use of eyeliner, she said the issue was no laughing matter.
“Why is no one covering this very important data point,” wrote Elsie in a series of viral Instagram stories.
“In July 2024, Donald Trump looked like this…” she said sharing a picture of Trump shortly after his assassination attempt. “And now he looks like this,” she added alongside a recent picture of the entrepreneur giving a speech.
“We need to talk about the bronzer,” she began. “I used to think the problem with Trump’s ‘skin tone’ was primarily an issue of photo retouching – aka a photographer’s choice in colour balancing.
“I noticed that Trump’s skin tone tended to oscillate wildly depending on lighting and the colour palettes of the photographer.
“In a ‘cool’ light Trump’s bronzer is less intense. A slightly warmer tone makes Trump’s ‘skin tone’ go crazy and orange.”
She explained that for years, she’d thought that Trump’s changing tan colour was a choice made primarily for TV audiences.
“But lately, I feel like something more psychological is happening,” she continued. “When Trump took office in 2017, he was significantly less orange… but as his term wore on, more bronzer was applied.
“The more stressed… the more makeup. And then when out of office, the makeup would only reappear for the cameras. But it was mostly toned down. Then something interesting happened. After Trump’s debate with Biden in June 2024, the makeup all but disappears.
“When Trump was up in the polls, and a victory was all but certain, the bronzer was gone.”
She then shared a very recent picture of the former president looking distinctly darker.
“Believe me when I tell you we’ve never seen him like this,” she said. “Also, it appears he’s doing his hands now?”
She also noted that the “mask” of makeup tends to get “darker towards the end of his presidential campaigns”.
However, for Elsie the issue is not a laughing matter as she asked followers to stop DM’ing her about how “silly” he looks.
“I don’t think he looks silly, I think he looks trapped,” she said. “He is acting just like we do when we are a) insulated b) insecure c) surrounded by pictures of ourselves”.
The posts were reshared to X/Twitter where they have racked up over 26 million views, in less than 24 hours.
Trump has repeatedly denied the claims that he uses fake tan and bronzing lotions and an official in his administration has put his complexion down to “good genes”.
