# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/21 "2025-10-15T17:40:55Z")
OP: Is this a factual question, asking whether an ear can fully heal? I don’t know if there’s ever been any pictures of the injury itself in the hours after it happened, so it could be a tiny nick that just bled a lot. Or, a bigger nick, with some good 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, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/22 "2025-10-15T17:45:58Z")
Any photos at all of the actual damage done might help determine whether a man of his age could totally recover with what seems to be no visible damage whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/23 "2025-10-15T17:46:43Z")
There must be magical healing properties in maxi-pads. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/24 "2025-10-15T17:49:02Z")
Two possibilities are that he’s wearing make-up to conceal the scar or that the photo was retouched to eliminate the scar. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/25 "2025-10-15T17:49:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Any photos at all of the actual damage done If those existed, I’m sure we would have all seen them by now. ---
**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, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/26 "2025-10-15T17:50:37Z")
Both are certainly possible, although the latter is less probable due to the unflattering aspects of the photo itself. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/27 "2025-10-15T17:51:48Z")
Could it be that - like a lot of photos on the internet - it has been reversed, and that’s actually his left ear ? ---
**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, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/28 "2025-10-15T17:52:39Z")
That could be possible. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/29 "2025-10-15T17:56:09Z")
Would _Time_ use retouched photos or flip an image? ---
**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, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/30 "2025-10-15T17:57:29Z")
I have just seen photos of Trump’s ear (Googling “phots of Trump’s ear damage) after it had been shot and, while there does seem to be a bit a blood, I really can’t see much (if any) damage to the ear itself. ---
**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, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/31 "2025-10-15T17:59:23Z")
Trump actually complained that Time retouched the photo to make his hair disappear, so any retouching to make his ear seem whole seems doubtful. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/32 "2025-10-15T18:05:16Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > it could be a tiny nick that just bled a lot. I had assumed it was just a tiny nick. Even very small cuts can bleed a lot, especially on the head. And it didn’t look like all _that_ much blood to me. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/33 "2025-10-15T18:17:20Z")
He also said the “M” in Time was a crown thingy. Proves he cannot read. The ear? Ears bleed. Ever had a Beagle get a nick, looks like a murder scene. Trump ain’t a Beagle but he has old man, low hanging ears. He got a nick, notch or clip in the ear. And lived to invent a tiny MyPillow for his ear. ---
**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, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/34 "2025-10-15T19:02:44Z")
5.56mm bullets are surprisingly small (in fact, they’re just 5.56 millimeters across). Unless they meet some resistance, they don’t actually make that big of a hole or a furrow. Their damage comes from their speed, not their mass. ---
**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, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/35 "2025-10-15T19:09:59Z")
The size of a needle used for ear piercing is usually between 0.8 mm and 1.0 mm, and the effect is visible for quite a while. ---
**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, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/36 "2025-10-15T19:30:21Z")
The needle also goes through the fleshiest part of the ear. Most of the rest is cartilage, and while cartilage heals slowly, it heals from the skin inward, so the wound is much less visible. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/37 "2025-10-15T19:42:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The size of a needle used for ear piercing is usually between 0.8 mm and 1.0 mm, and the effect is visible for quite a while. The effect of the wound healing around an earring post is visible for quite a while. That’s much different. ---
**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, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/38 "2025-10-15T19:45:54Z")
No need to move the hidden posts, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/39 "2025-10-15T21:01:04Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > There must be magical healing properties in maxi-pads There are, but they wear off after 28 days. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998/40 "2025-10-15T21:54:12Z")
I recently nicked my right ear on the helix. It was about 1 cm. and bled despite my applying pressure for maybe 30 minutes. There was a scab for 3-4 days, and by the two-week mark, you couldn’t tell there’d ever been an injury. OK, that’s anecdotal and so not much help. After Trump was hit and treated, his then-doctor (now Congressman), Ronny Jackson, said the injury was 2 centimeters long and went down to the cartilage. (I read this in WaPo, I think, but have since canceled my subscription.)That isn’t very deep, since the skin is rather thin there. [New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi](https://www.yahoo.com/news/reporter-learned-trump-let-inspect-174624453.html) said she examined Trump’s ear in early August. He tapped the spot where the wound was. > “The particular spot that he identified with his tap was pristine,” Nuzzi wrote. “I scanned carefully the rest of the terrain. It looked normal and incredible and fine.” > > Nuzzi later added: “An ear had never appeared to have gone through less. Except there, on the tiniest patch of this tiny sculpture of skin, a minor distortion that resembled not a crucifixion wound but the distant aftermath of a sunburn.” It sounds like a very minor graze. If it didn’t damage the cartilage, I could see it showing no scars this long after the injury. Obviously IANAD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-damage-to-trumps-right-ear/1023998.md?page=3)