Mar-a-Lago face: the Maga plastic surgery trend

The "Mar-a-Lago face" has become a must-have accessory for Donald Trump's inner circle, as "both the leader and followers compete to inject as much unsightliness as possible into the American field of vision", said Salon.

The Maga aesthetic embraced by some high-profile supporters combines "aggressive plastic surgery, fake tan, and make-up spackled on so thick that it would crack — if the fillers hadn't already paralysed their faces".

Plastic surgeons told the Daily Mail the trend, with its "copious use of Botox, a Miami-bronze tan, puffy lips and silky-smooth skin" was "giving Trumpland an almost 'plastic' and 'Real Housewives' look". The end result, said Salon, is faces "so fake-looking it's uncanny, as if an AI image generator had replaced a person with an exaggerated version of themselves".

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Who has got it?

Several women in Donald Trump's inner circle are reported to have recently undergone cosmetic procedures, said The Hollywood Reporter. Some men are also allegedly getting in on the act.

When he was briefly named as Trump's pick for US Attorney General, Matt Gaetz's "ultra-manicured brows" and line-less forehead led some to "speculate that the congressman’s beauty came with the help of an aesthetician", said Vanity Fair.

Last year, it was reported that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem had had her teeth straightened in the hope it would improve her chances of landing a top job in Trump's team. Noem was subsequently named Secretary of Homeland Security.

"It's all about her appeal to an audience of one," Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told the The New York Times. "She is showing him she works well in front of the camera, that she has that star power he wants on stage with him, while fitting into the mode of women in the Trump universe." Amanda Till, a Palm Beach-based tech entrepreneur, told the New York Post that "a lot of us who support President Trump want to look our best", because "it makes you feel like you’re part of something".

The Daily Mail said "the shift in the appearance of Trump's closest aides could be down to a desire to please the Republican, who has been accused of having a preference for attractive subordinates".

Perhaps, wondered Mother Jones, it could be part of "broader efforts" to "force strict gender norms" on to the electorate, with an "aesthetic" that is, "like Trump's politics, ridiculously blunt". Social conservatism comes with "pressure to perform gender in hyperbolic ways", said Salon, to a point where some Trump acolytes "look like cartoon versions of 'man' and 'woman' instead of regular people".

Crossing party lines

"As with everything Trump, the look represents a brash departure from well-established D.C. norms", said The Hollywood Reporter. But maybe not for long. The Daily Beast said "it's becoming apparent that 'Mar-a-Lago face' is crossing party lines".

"Everybody gets some tweaking", dermatologist Tina Alster, who counts Nancy Pelosi and CNN's Wolf Blitzer among her patients, told The Hollywood Reporter. Her verdict? "Kamala has been maintaining for a long time, Biden's Botox is sometimes overdone, Trump has a ruddy complexion that needs some tending to." However, the news site stressed it had "not confirmed any of these public servants' cosmetic regimens".

A report in New Scientist last year suggested that Botox treatment can affect brain activity and reduce the ability to empathise. Were he to take a leaf out of his supporters' self-care playbook, "that could mean even more unhinged moments coming from Trump", said the Daily Beast. "But he will surely look great."