# About the damage to Trump's right ear **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 15, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998 "2025-10-15T17:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/1 "2025-10-15T17:00:26Z")
On the most recent Time Magazine cover they show a most unflattering photo of Trump. In this photo they show his right ear, which show no damage whatsoever. Can a person’s ear recover that fast and that _completely_ after being shot? Even a simple ear piercing leaves a trace of damage long after the fact, and this was no simple ear piercing with a tiny needle. Am I totally wrong about how that ear should actually look after being shot? Educate me, please. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/2 "2025-10-15T17:02:06Z")
Is it possible it was actually a photo from before the shooting? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/3 "2025-10-15T17:03:20Z")
> **Off-topic** > > IMO that “assassination attempt” was completely fabricated, this being one of the most glaring pieces of evidence why. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/4 "2025-10-15T17:04:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Is it possible it was actually a photo from before the shooting? Possibly, but there are countless post “assassination attempt” photos and videos, in high def and high res, showing no damage whatsoever to his right ear. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/5 "2025-10-15T17:05:33Z")
> **Response to off-topic** > > Not to derail the thread, but you can’t possibly get Trump to agree to have some inexperienced guy shoot at him with a bullet 1 inch away from causing death, and to have the sniper himself agree to be shot dead by the Secret Service. > > Oh, and someone in the audience died, too. Hard to fake that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/6 "2025-10-15T17:05:46Z")
He has an invisible MedBed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/7 "2025-10-15T17:12:16Z")
Too many sidelines too soon in the thread, in my opinion. Is this amount of non-damage normal and, as brought up by @Velocity, was this photo taken before or after the shooting? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/8 "2025-10-15T17:12:48Z")
> **Very Off-topic CT-style post hidden** > > > [@Velocity](#): > > > > Not to derail the thread, but you can’t possibly get Trump to agree to have some inexperienced guy shoot at him with a bullet 1 inch away from causing death, and to have the sniper himself agree to be shot dead by the Secret Service, and have someone in the audience mysteriously die of blood loss at the same time for reasons that involve no bullets > > I didn’t say there were no bullets. I said the attempt was a fabrication. Yes there was an actual shooter who was killed, along with a bystander. Maybe the sniper wasn’t let in on the part of the plan that he was going to be killed by the Secret Service after his deliberate near miss. The bystander, collateral damage. We’ll never know. But what’s pretty clear is that a bullet never touched his right ear, so the bandage and the blood had to be planned in advance. I doubt they carried around a bandage and fake blood on the off chance that someone would take a shot at Trump and miss. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/9 "2025-10-15T17:13:43Z")
I, uh, disagree, but let’s let **Czarcasm** have the thread his way first, addressing the ear photo issue. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/10 "2025-10-15T17:13:52Z")
Or maybe a very rich, very vain man can afford expensive plastic surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/11 "2025-10-15T17:16:42Z")
Thank you. If the photo was taken before the shooting-moot point. If elder folk totally recover from that kind of damage to the ear usually-moot point. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/12 "2025-10-15T17:17:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Or maybe a very rich, very vain man can afford expensive plastic surgery. Plastic surgery isn’t magic. There would be a progression showing stiches, graft, bruises, and healing which would take longer than the very short period of time Trump was seen in public with the bandage over his ear that the MAGA verse treated as a fashion trend. Trump is one of the most photographed persons on the planet, so where are those photos? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/13 "2025-10-15T17:18:29Z")
> **Response to Off-Topic post** > > Do you really think Trump would allow live bullets to fly anywhere near him? Even if it were all a setup, something could always go wrong. He’s not brave enough for this level of chicanery. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/14 "2025-10-15T17:21:16Z")
> **Off-topic Post** > > “An assassination attempt would really boost my ratings. Get it done, but don’t tell me the details. if I don’t know when and how, it’ll be much more believable. Plus I can say I had no knowledge of the plan and it wouldn’t be lying” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/15 "2025-10-15T17:23:01Z")
According to the _Washington Post_, the photo was taken outside the White House on October 5th of this year. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/16 "2025-10-15T17:24:46Z")
The explanation I heard is that he hit his ear on something when the Secret Service threw him to the ground. Or, that it was from shards of the teleprompter. ---
**Author:** ![StringsandHammers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stringsandhammers/32/17933_2.png) [@StringsandHammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StringsandHammers)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/17 "2025-10-15T17:25:47Z")
Maybe it wasn’t so much a conspiracy as much as it was a matter of serendipity. Perhaps Trump didn’t so plan it out and didn’t even know about the would be shooter on top of the building with live ammunition but his security staff might have. I heard there were attendees at the rally who alerted the authorities about the suspicious man on top of the roof yet they chose to do nothing. Why? To get Trump elected, sometimes it’s better to let things play out. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/18 "2025-10-15T17:26:52Z")
---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/19 "2025-10-15T17:38:15Z")
**Moderating:** @dorjan, your comments on Trump’s motivations bordered on Conspiracy theory, and are extremely off-topic for the OP’s question. I’ve hidden all but one that was more-or-less on topic. It’s clear that you have an interest in the subject, but that would likely be better suited to it’s own thread, very possibly in another forum depending on the sort of “debate” you think likely to happen. > **How to Reply as a linked Topic** > > Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, _looks like a curving arrow point to the right_. > > Choose **Reply as linked topic** and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it. > > That is actually the best method. If you like, I would be willing to move the hidden posts to the new thread, even if it’s a bit of work. Aside - while I have have hidden all the other direct responses to the hijack, I’d like to remind @velocity that the clause “Not to derail the thread, but [snip]” - is almost _always_ a contribution to a hijack. Next time, please flag it, as several other posters have. Do NOT further respond to the hijack all. Thank you, and I’ll reopen the thread. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/20 "2025-10-15T17:38:38Z")
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