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Ask HN: Why Is Trump Orange?
8 points by modzu on Sept 24, 2020 | hide | past | favorite | 8 comments
im not a us citizen but every time i see a photo of donald trump he looks, well... orange. does anybody know why? is it the media manipulating images? has he ever commented on it?


It's fake tan of some sort. You'll notice there's quite a lot of variance, and sometimes the eyes are much more obviously weird-looking than others.

> is it the media manipulating images?

Implausible; it would take a ridiculous degree of media cooperation, and official press photos are often quite orange.

> has he ever commented on it?

I suspect he doesn't see it as a problem; he could make it go away any time he wanted by putting down the makeup. His team don't seem keen on it, though; note that in the famous photo where they lengthened his fingers, he has been de-oranged: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46977712


The Carotenoid section of this [0] wiki article should explain it.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunless_tanning#Carotenoids


so he eats 10 carrots a day? i remain perplexed


A little lower down in the section "Beta-carotene":

    Sunless-tanning pills often contain β-carotene. 
or the section "Canthaxanthin":

    As a tanning agent, however, much larger quantities are used. After canthaxanthin is consumed, it is deposited throughout the body, including in the layer of fat below the skin, which turns an orange-brown color.


He apparently uses a very particular brand of tanning product: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/6/20998822/trump-orang...


self tanning lotion or spray. he presumably uses it because he doesnt like having a pale appearance


> has he ever commented on it?

He has, he blamed energy efficient lightbulbs: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/13/trump-orange...


"United States President Donald Trump insisted a photo of himself on Twitter that made him look poorly spray-tanned was 'photoshopped, obviously.'

The photo, which began making its rounds on the internet on Friday evening, is a close-up of the president on the White House Lawn."

https://globalnews.ca/news/6525816/trump-tan-line-photo/

Whether the photo is actually manipulated is an exercise for the reader.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/us/politics/trump-tan.htm...




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