February 8, 2020

"President Trump claimed on Saturday that a viral photo of his tan lines, which prompted #OrangeFace to trend on Twitter, was photoshopped...."

The Daily Beast reports.

According to @photowhitehouse, the source of the photo, "This picture was never photoshopped, but used the Apple smartphone’s photo app to adjust the color of the picture":


ADDED: TMZ says:
DT was captured on camera by a guy named William Moon -- a self-described White House correspondent and photographer, who doesn't appear to be part of the official press corps. or White House staff, but clearly has access of some sort to snap shots like these....

In Moon's photo, the outer edge of Trump's mug seems to be in stark contrast to the rest of his face ... showing a color distinction between pale and what looks to be orange or tan. Getty Images has the same pic, though ... and it's not nearly as saturated as this.

Now, it's possible Moon caught the Prez at a different angle with different lighting than the Getty photog did ... perhaps the photo isn't edited at all. Doesn't seem likely, however.
This is the big controversy of the day, apparently, so things are looking rosy for Donald J. Trump.

60 comments:

Achilles said...

These people are a complete joke.

They are just completely dishonest and really not good people at all.

tcrosse said...

So he was out in the sun in his wimple.

tim maguire said...

Comparing the full picture to the zoom in, it looks photoshopped to me.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/8/21129275/trump-tan-line-face-photo

gilbar said...

"This picture was never photoshopped, but used the Apple smartphone’s photo app to adjust the color of the picture"

See? We're in the clear! we didn't use Adobe Photoshop, we used Apple's photo app!

Ken B said...

So now “photoshop” is like “wiretap”: unless you use the specific program called PhotoShop it doesn’t count.

Lindsey said...

His white hair even turned orange.

Jim at said...

With each passing week, I think the left can't get any more desperate.

And with each passing week, they prove me wrong.

Achilles said...

Trump was literally just on television.

If you believe anything this "media" says you are stupid.

If you cite as truth a single thing these people say you are a terrible person.

n.n said...

For America, and Ukraine, too, and everyone else who has been burdened by the Democrats' multitrimester witch hunts and warlock trials.

Ann Althouse said...

"See? We're in the clear! we didn't use Adobe Photoshop, we used Apple's photo app!"

I think he's saying he heightened the color but he did not add the line.

Question whether he increased the contrast.

I wonder how much of a tan line a person can get from the shadow of his own hair...

Nevertheless, I assume Trump uses some sort of artificial tan or makeup to get his famously orange skin tone. The mockery is about the "tan line." Why wouldn't you get the color applied right up to the hairline? It seems inept. That's what makes me think it really could be a natural tan line, caused by the shadow of his hair or -- more likely -- by the hat he wears when golfing.

gilbar said...

Ann, You Have an Apple phone?

Inga said...

Trump should’ve loaned his face paint to Biden for yesterday’s debate, Biden looked a sickly yellow.

Ken B said...

Ann assumes the “tan line” is real and not an artifact of the color alteration. Has she ever seen this line before? Has she seen what image manipulation software can do to shading and small, unseeable gradations?

rcocean said...

I refuse to believe a member of the press corps would distort a photograph to make Trump look bad. After all, they're objective!

Seriously, from looking at the longer range Getty photo, its apparent the close up photo was distorted to increase the contrast between tan and non-tan. BTW, Golfers who spent 3-4 hours in the afternoon sun with a hat on, often show similar "tan lines".

Isn't our MSM great? Always covering the BIG Stories. Who cares about the Kurds and the Ukraine anymore, we're off on "Make Trump look bad - story no. 1,567"

Rory said...

It's like the Godfather: when he gets really orangy, someone's about to have an accident.

Chuck said...

Althouse as we followers of Tom Joseph’s endlessly fascinating Twitter feed know, it isn’t simply a matter of sloppy makeup or an embarrassing photo.

Rather, it is one of about two- or three-dozen different signs and symptoms of increasing neurological disorders with Trump. This one relating to his personal grooming:

https://mobile.twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1225970162924429314

I really expected you to stay far away from this story, Althouse. Because this one has no good explanation for Trump, and his impulse to deny, counterattack, then deny some more, will not work this time.

bagoh20 said...

People who can't accept and celebrate the successes of the Trump administration should have to pay a tax sufficiently punitive so that their lives would actually be as bad as they wish they were. At least then their constant unhinged criticism would be honest and valid. Call it the TDS tax.

n.n said...

#Diversity (i.e. #ColorJudgment) is trending.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

we've met the President & 1st Lady-- they are made-up for photos

Trump's bulkiness can be attributed (in part) to body armor

his hands are not small

tcrosse said...

Nevertheless, I assume Trump uses some sort of artificial tan or makeup to get his famously orange skin tone.

On what basis?

bagoh20 said...

Arthur C.Clark postulated that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

For those with TDS, any sufficiently successful administration of the executive branch combined with indisputable positive results can seem indistinguishable from the effects of a neurological disorder.

If you disagree with the policy, actions, and people in charge despite their substantial and extended success, then maybe a mental disorder is in play, just not with them.

Chuck said...

TDS - Trump Dementia Syndrome. I fear the tax we all might pay on that account.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

the chameleons on the Left scoff at his consistency

They better get used to the color orange--
...they'll be wearing it soon enough

Mark Nielsen said...


Chuck says: "[blah blah blah] will not work this time."

Yes! We've got him this time! Call the hearings! RE-IMPEACH!!!

Chuck, I used to try to give you the benefit of the doubt and even felt badly for how you were treated here. I still hate all the crap you bring out from some of the regulars here -- it makes a lot of otherwise promising threads completely unreadable.

But wow, what do you expect when you're so predictable? Defending Pelosi? Really? Tan-lines? REALLY?

Bay Area Guy said...

I love Trump, but that is one ugly picture!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

BREAD LINES
---NOT---
TAN LINES!!

MUA's to the gulags!!

Chuck said...

Mark Nielsen;

I did not use the term “tan lines.” I don’t think they are tan lines at all. I think that what is going on is Trump’s own personal application of a bronzer or foundation of some kind. Ex-employees of Trump Bedminster have reported that the staff was told to stock his room with two full, and one half-full, containers of Bronx Colors Boosting Hydrating Concealer in the shade Orange BHC06. Also two full containers and one half full containers of Tic Tacs.

And that increasingly of late, Trump’s own application of makeup is getting more impulsive and sloppy.

bagoh20 said...

Somebody seems a bit obsessed with someone else's very personal habits. It verges on a neurological disorder to be that obsessed. You talk about Trump like he's your Jodie Foster.

Josephbleau said...

To a modern Democrat this is what passes for reasoned discourse.

bagoh20 said...

I don't care if Trump likes to march around the Oval Office naked playing a tuba filled with marscapone. If he does, that's my new criteria for Presidential candidates.

Ralph L said...

I think that what is going on is Trump’s own personal application of a bronzer or foundation of some kind.

NOOO! That isn't his real color?

Bob Dole kept a condo in Florida so he could tan in the winter and avoid near-daily TV makeup.

Chuck said...

Blogger bagoh20 said...
Somebody seems a bit obsessed with someone else's very personal habits. It verges on a neurological disorder to be that obsessed. You talk about Trump like he's your Jodie Foster.


It would all be largely defused, and would quickly be a non-story, if Trump answered honestly about these grooming issues. But the White House denies that Trump uses any makeup and denies that he uses any sunlamp.

That’s where the fun always starts; at the same moment as the Trump lying.

Achilles said...

bagoh20 said...
Arthur C.Clark postulated that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Sometimes I try to tell the students in the Masters CS courses I help teach why their code failed. As soon as you say "compiler" or "binary file" it is all over.

These are top .1% of computer users and most of them do not have the faintest idea what virtual memory actually is for example.

We are going to be labeled warlocks soon.

Titus said...

Frightening.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...
Blogger bagoh20 said...
Somebody seems a bit obsessed with someone else's very personal habits. It verges on a neurological disorder to be that obsessed. You talk about Trump like he's your Jodie Foster.


It would all be largely defused, and would quickly be a non-story, if Trump answered honestly about these grooming issues. But the White House denies that Trump uses any makeup and denies that he uses any sunlamp.

That’s where the fun always starts; at the same moment as the Trump lying.



I know everyone here except maybe Inga hates you and you are a piece of shit.

But I just need to take this moment and thank you for what you do here.

These people need to know who you people are.

stevew said...

Not photoshopped but adjusted on the iPhone. Similar or same thing to me.

FFS, this is what people choose to obsess and complain about?

TDS, pure and simple.

bagoh20 said...

OK, so what if Trump says that he does use some orange concealer? Does his new-found honesty and openness about such a personal habit make him the most awesome President ever, becuase a lot of the rest of his record is going that way. If he simply didn't have such a despicable personal life. If he was just normal and used a young intern for a cigar humidor, we could accept his success, but concealer? No fucking way I'm down with that. Impeach!

bagoh20 said...

Have we not evolved past skin color shaming in 2020? This is like attacking Obama for using something to address being a little ashy.

Howard said...

His countenance says he's struggling with bowel control.

tcrosse said...

His countenance says he's struggling with bowel control.

As well he should, since he shits bigger than most of his enemies.

Wince said...

We May Have Unlocked the Mystery of Trump’s Orange Skin
Does it have something to do with an Indiana tanning mogul?
Mother Jones NOVEMBER 4, 2016
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/why-donald-trump-turned-orange/

Fifteen years ago, Trump’s pallor was almost normal. But something changed about 10 years ago and the internet hasn’t fully explained why. There might be a strong clue: Trump’s longtime friendship with the former CEO of a tanning company.

For nearly 20 years, Trump has had a close personal and business relationship with an Indiana businessman named Steve Hilbert, who in 2006 became CEO of New Sunshine, a maker of tanning beds, spray booths, and Kardashian-branded tanning lotions and bronzers...

In 2006, under the Hilberts’ leadership, the fund got into the tanning business. Not long before, Tomisue had found a lost black Lab that belonged to one of her neighbors. When she returned the dog, she discovered that its owners happened to own New Sunshine, the company that made a tanning bed the Hilberts owned. That moment of serendipity led to the Hilbert-Menard fund buying New Sunshine.

This is also around the time that Trump started to turn orange. Did the Hilberts get Trump into tanning? Does he use New Sunshine spray tans or tanning bed bronzers? (Reviewers have suggested that turning orange—a “rich shade of burnt orange,” in the words of one—can be a distinct side effect of using such products.) The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about whether Trump used New Sunshine tanning products. Questions sent by email and FedEx to Hilbert’s Indiana home went unanswered. It’s clear, though, that Trump is familiar with New Sunshine’s wares. He promoted the company’s tanning products on The Celebrity Apprentice in two episodes.

walter said...

It's really insensitive to Pelosi to keep invoking dementia.

Hari said...

The people who make the rules (and love the rules) hate Trump.

The people who feel they have been screwed by the rules love Trump.

Trump thinks that the rules have produced a big wrong in baseball, as it applies to Pete Rose. His likely opponent, Bernie Sands, thinks the big wrong in baseball is that the Dodgers left Brooklyn.

readering said...

seems like it became a big thing when POTUS claimed photo shopped. Anyone doubt he does something to alter his natural complexion? I'm fine with Chuck. But you knew that.

readering said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yancey Ward said...

Chuck, do you think Trump has an Orange Sharpie for his makeup routine? Inquiring minds want to know.

Yancey Ward said...

I think the admission that the image was altered on the i-phone is pretty good proof Trump's claim is, in fact, correct. It wouldn't take much fiddling to greatly enhance the difference in the tanning of his face versus the beginning of the hairline like. In other words, were you standing there, it wouldn't be as noticeable as it is in that photo, which is Trump's point.

Of course, the Chucks of the world will debate to the death the definition of "photoshopped".

Drago said...

readering: "I'm fine with Chuck."

All leftists and marxists are.

Obviously.

Drago said...

I'll bet Trump had just consumed a pecan pie baked by someone on staff before that picture was taken.

We won't know for sure until the entire White House staff is brought in for questioning under oath as LLR-lefty Chuck has demanded for so many other astonishingly moronic reasons.

MayBee said...

Adam Schiff does a much better job with his bronzer. Plus it has a touch of shimmer, which is much more in these days.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

I NEVER PhotoShop pictures.

I've tried in the past a few times but find PhotoShop very hard to use.

When I need to edit pictures, I use CorelDraw, Corel PhotoPaint or Paint.net pretty much daily.

So I could color PDJT red and put Satanic horns on his head and truthfully say "No, it was not PhotoShopped."

I don't use Apple products, either.

John Henry

Narayanan said...

Trump's remarks reference B&W photo in Moon's tweet not color

Earnest Prole said...

Wait, I thought Trump was proud that he's Orange Hitler.

Tina Trent said...

Looks like he just left a television studio. You have to do extreme make-up to appear consistent under the lights.

Dementia would be doing nothing. This Trump is demented meme smacks of Stalinism. Not a nice thing to unleash.

Unknown said...

a DECORATIVE shot

mikee said...

So what I get from this is: Trump looks funny.
His past three years have seen such economic growth and foreign and domestic policy improvements that he could look like Bugs Bunny as Carmen Miranda and I'd support him.

Obama almost never looked bad, save when wearing Mom Jeans, maybe.
His eight years in office almost transformed the country into a third world shithole.
Looked great doing it, though.

Gimme Bugs Bunny as Carmen Miranda over sharply creased pants any day, with each one's policies and successes and failures.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

He got his fake tan in his hair. It's better than skin cancer.

Pete said...

I'm late to this commentary but here's Nobel Prize winning Dylan in white face:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujgqOgMIwfA

Why can't this picture of Trump award him the same prize?

Chris said...

You shouldn't make fun of people appearance. OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE WHAT THAT ORANGE BUFFOON DID TO HIS FACE????