President Donald Trump revived a decades-old debate over his distinctive hairstyle during a White House Rose Garden speech Wednesday, declaring that he doesn't wear a wig and pointing to a wind-battered Ohio campaign rally as evidence.
Trump, 80, raised the subject while recounting his efforts to help Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno win in Ohio, describing an outdoor campaign event where powerful gusts disrupted the stage and sent teleprompter equipment flying. The president said the conditions also settled, in his view, persistent speculation about whether his hair is real.
"You know, for years, I had to suffer with people saying, 'He wears a wig.' I don't wear a wig. But that night, they found out I did not wear a wig because if you did, it was not gonna be on your head very long," Trump said.
Trump appeared to be referring to the Buckeye Values PAC Rally held near Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024, an event marked by strong winds. Contemporary local coverage reported that the conditions interfered with Trump's teleprompters and forced him to improvise portions of his remarks.
"I went up to the speaker, and it was blowing so hard," Trump said Wednesday, describing the weather as "the worst weather I think I've ever experienced outside of maybe a hurricane we had in Florida one time."
Trump said the wind was powerful enough to carry away his prepared-speech equipment.
"As I was walking up to the podium, the teleprompters, all set up with the beautiful speech, they blew off the stage. They blew off the stage, and they were 50 yards, like a half a football field down. They were gone as I walked up," he said.
There are discrepancies between Trump's latest account and the record of the Ohio appearance. Trump described the rally Wednesday as occurring on a "Friday night," while the March 16, 2024, event took place on a Saturday.
More significantly for Trump's argument about his hair, footage from the event shows him wearing a hat during his appearance. That makes it difficult to determine how the windy conditions could have provided the visible proof he now cites to dismiss claims that he wears a hairpiece.
The White House has been asked to clarify whether Trump was referring to that rally or another campaign appearance. No further explanation had been provided in the source article.
Trump's remarks arrive after another burst of online speculation surrounding his hair following an Aug. 5 appearance at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Images from the event showed Trump's hair appearing fuller and somewhat darker than its usual pale-blond appearance, prompting comparisons across social-media platforms.
By the following day, Trump's hairstyle appeared closer to its familiar look. There has been no verified explanation showing that the change resulted from a wig or hairpiece, and photographs alone don't establish how Trump's hair is maintained.
Author and longtime Trump critic Michael Wolff has separately made claims about the president's hairstyle. On the "Inside Trump's Head" podcast, Wolff said he could explain "what's... under Donald Trump's hair," answering: "Nothing."
Wolff made similar assertions in his 2018 book "Fire and Fury," in which he wrote that Trump's daughter Ivanka had privately described an "elaborate architectural process" used to maintain "that dome over nothing." Wolff claimed Trump had undergone scalp-reduction surgery and that remaining strands were arranged and held in position with styling products.
