Trump's makeup mask strategically hides something we may never see • Kansas Reflector

Although they are both nominally in the same political party, our last two Republican presidents, Donald Trump and George W. Bush, don't share much in common these days. In fact, some politicians were hoping Bush would support Harris or at least criticize Trump in the run-up to last month's election.

But this week I thought about a 20-year-old political film that, at least in my mind, links the two presidents.

Perhaps you've seen Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's 2004 documentary lambasting the Bush administration. The film blames the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on a ridiculously stupid president who loved vacations and loved dealing with the press more than protecting the country.

The film was about the White House's response to 9/11, particularly its use of a national tragedy to drag the country into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I admit that this storyline doesn't seem to have much to do with Trump's return to power in January (although Moore did make a sort of sequel about Trump, called Fahrenheit 11/9).

The micro-part of the original film that shines a light on Trump is the opening credits. After imagining an America in which Al Gore, rather than Bush, won the 2000 election, Moore introduces the key figures who shaped Bush's reckless foreign policy. Cut with the opening credits, the film provides footage of Bush's coterie as they prepare for interviews. They stand in front of the broadcast cameras as hands reach into frame to dab on foundation and style their hair.

Vice President Dick Cheney calmly waits for a makeup brush to end up on his bald forehead. The camera zooms uncomfortably into the eyes of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Condoleeza Rice, bathed in studio lights, stands in front of a nocturnal landscape of the capital. Absurdly, Paul Wolfowitz wets a comb in his mouth before running it through his hair (this doesn't help much).

Finally, Bush sits behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, waiting to address the nation. A stylist finds a small piece of Bush's hair that needs to be tamed, tapping it with a comb. The president, a little awkward and a little nervous, looks offscreen. It looks like someone just told a joke, like they were trying to stifle a laugh.

These moments are quietly fierce, mocking turn-of-the-century political leaders as insignificant in a time of national peril, death, and destruction. In 2004, I remember giggling with others in the theater where I saw the film. The public thought of the horrible twisted metal of Ground Zero in New York while watching the subdued vanity of conservative politicians, one by one.

Moore's first minutes reduced Washington's powerhouses. This shattered the lens that political consultants had hand-polished to make America's leaders shine.

Looking at these images, we saw the emperor's clothes and makeup falling off. To watch these opening credits is to understand: as a politician, never let the public see you unguarded. Never let them see you without your mask firmly in place.

Whether he learned his lesson from Moore's footage or not, Trump has digested and deployed this political truism from the time he rode the escalator to his first press conference in 2015. His instincts more likely come from years spent on his reality TV show, The Apprentice, and posing for magazine covers in high-rise buildings.

Many mock Trump's appearance: the pink circles surrounding his eyes show through an orange face, his neck often showing a sharp line where makeup fades and more natural skin tone appears. Although Trump must think this look projects youth and power, it also suggests insecurity and vanity. He's probably the most photographed person in the last 10 years, and not every camera angle and lighting setup flatters him. Its skin can appear brown in some situations and fluorescent orange in others.

People wonder why this look is mandatory for Trump. Of course, the tanned look, if delicately applied and carefully lit, might suggest a Florida leisure playboy, lounging on a yacht on the intercoastal waterway with a fishing rod in one hand and a business tour in the 'other. It's a glitzy coastal image that certainly seems to repel Kansans, except it had the opposite effect. If Midwesterners don't identify with Trump's well-groomed, sunny image, perhaps they aspire to it?

Even though this iconic look is a hallmark of three consecutive presidential campaigns, help me find a photo of Trump having his signature orange makeup applied. I did research in photo agencies and on the Internet. It's easier to find a photo of a statue of Trump applying makeup or a makeup artist creating that famous face on herself than of the president applying makeup.

For what it's worth, his campaign said he didn't use makeup at all.

Trump and his team must know that this photo would hurt Trump, even hinder him. Imagine her face, half orange and half natural, illuminated by the soft glow of a green room mirror as stylists circle around. Imagine the careful preparation required to place your thinning, yet long hair where it should be. Imagine social media crackling with memes, hits and takedowns.

Some photos, particularly on golf, seem to show him without makeup. Yet I can't find it in the makeup chair, the moment that so effectively befuddled Bush administration officials during 9/11 Fahrenheit.

While we may worry about what drives a public figure to adopt such an extreme and outlandish appearance as Trump's, I think there is a larger message here that will likely continue to be important throughout the next term of Trump.

Some say Trump is undisciplined in his policies. Disarticulated. A break with norms. Reckless. Criminal. Struggling. He does not always keep his electoral promises. His control of appointees could cause public relations heartburn. His rhetoric may seem ineligible. It might seem that Trump prefers gaps to straight lines.

Nonetheless, Trump remains disciplined regarding his mask. We, the public, must never see him at the moment of transformation, because that would reveal that there are two Trumps.

If my focus on Trump and his makeup seems trivial, consider how much his playboy bravado has helped his campaigns. How much his swagger fueled his cult of personality and his courtiers. How makeup hid her age. And how this discipline regarding his image could very easily slip into more consequential questions.

In the popular tale The Emperor's New Clothes, the public mocks the approach of the naked ruler parading through the streets.

In the reality of Trump's second term, the public could each day stand speechless as the president emerges from the White House with news of his latest punishment, but with his orange mask firmly in place.

Eric Thomas teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people affected by public policy or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own comments, here.

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