Trump's suddenly fuller hair sparks online frenzy — White House says it's just the lighting

Donald Trump's noticeably fuller hair has become the talk of the internet. The unusually voluminous blond locks drew a flood of online reactions asking what had changed — but the White House offered a simple explanation: it was just the lighting.

Trump's hair appeared particularly thick at an event held Wednesday at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Standing at the podium, his hair looked considerably more voluminous than usual, gleaming bright gold under strong stage lights.

The hair drew more attention than anything Trump said that day. Some speculated he had worn a hairpiece or was using a hair-loss treatment.

When White House reporters pressed for answers, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "it's just the lighting" — attributing the effect to the casino's distinctive LED setup.

Online, AI-generated images riffing on Trump's apparent "transformation" flooded social media as memes.

Among them: Trump fielding reporters' questions while sporting an enormous blond bouffant, and a reimagined version of his 2016 TV talk show appearance in which host Jimmy Fallon reaches over to tousle the oversized hairdo. In the actual 2016 appearance, Fallon had obtained Trump's consent before suddenly running his fingers through the then-president-elect's hair and messing it up.

Another widely shared image showed Trump's top loyalists wearing matching voluminous blond wigs to look like their boss.

Some mocked the hair by punning on the Strait of Hormuz, renaming it the "Strait of Hairmuz" for its phonetic resemblance.

Trump, who turns 80 this year, sported thick blond hair in his youth, but his locks have thinned and turned silver with age.

Trump has long been unusually attentive to his hair. In a 2011 Rolling Stone interview, he said he uses only Head & Shoulders shampoo and lets his hair air-dry after washing rather than blow-drying it.

He added at the time that drying his hair takes about an hour, during which he watches television or reads the newspaper.

Last year, he pushed back after Time magazine ran a cover photo taken from below, accusing the publication of deliberately making his hair "disappear." Time changed the cover photo following his complaint.

Also last year, when he signed an executive order directing an increase in shower water pressure shortly after taking office, he argued that maintaining his "beautiful hair" required a sufficient flow of water.

In an interview with veteran ABC anchor Barbara Walters, Trump once invited her to pull his hair to prove it was real and not a wig.

Walters, who has since died, later said: "I still think it's a hairpiece."