Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has longed denied that he wore a toupee. Alas, he is telling the truth. In a 1990 divorce deposition, under oath, Ivana Trump swore that in a fit of rage, Donald raped her because of the pain he was suffering resulting from his scalp reduction surgery in 1989.
Donald's scalp reduction, also known as alopecia reduction (AR), is most successfully performed on patients with balding on the crown on the head, according to HairtransplantMentor.com "The procedure, which essentially cuts out the patient's bald spot, follows these steps: Under anesthesia, the surgeon cuts away the balding area of the scalp. Usually a portion somewhere between the crown and the vertex transitional point is removed. The remaining skin (which is able to grow hair) is sewn back together."
Most scalp reductions are performed under general anesthesia, wherein the patient is completely unconscious. But depending on the patient and the length of the surgery, localized anesthesia is permitted. Very often the complete procedure requires two visits to the plastic surgeon.
In many cases, the procedure will be done in two steps. First, about four to six weeks prior to the actual procedure, doctors will reroute some of the arteries in the patient's head. This operation ensures proper blood flow after the scalp reduction is performed.
In the second step, the doctor cuts out a Y-shaped portion of patient's scalp. The back and sides of the scalp are lifted upward and inward to cover and close the area. Scarring is usually covered by hair styling, similar to Donald's quasi-comb over.
The recovery period is usually three to four days. It is recommended that shampooing and combing should be avoided for a minimum of five days. Strenuous activity is prohibited for about two weeks which made Donald's rape of his wife, Ivana, troubling in light of the complications it might have caused his scalp reduction healing process.
Ivana's detailed description of Donald's rape was given during her deposition as part of the Trump's 1990's divorce case. In a 1993 book, Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, the former Texas Monthly and Newsweek reporter Harry Hurt III, described a very violent, criminal scene of domestic violence.
According to Ivana's sworn statements, her plastic surgeon, Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who had performed Donald's waist and chin liposuction procedures, also performed his scalp reduction surgery. Hurt wrote in the Lost Tycoon that the recovery was painful and Donald suffered "nagging headaches caused by the shrinking of the scalp, and the pain of the initial incision."
In pain, and not satisfy with the immediate coloration associated with the process, on an irate phone call, Donald told the Dr. Hoefflin, "I'm going to kill you!" He then threatened to sue the doctor, not pay for the procedure and work to destroy his practice. (Vintage Donald Trump)
Donald then unleashes his anger on Ivana for recommending the doctor. The relevant excerpt of Lost Tycoon follows:
Suddenly, according to Ivana, The Donald storms into the room. He is looking very angry, and he is cursing out loud. "Your fucking doctor has ruined me!" he screams. The Donald flings Ivana down onto the bed. Then he pins back her arms and grabs her by the hair. The part of her head he is grabbing corresponds to the spot on his head where the scalp reduction operation has been done. The Donald starts ripping out Ivana's hair by the handful, as if he is trying to make her feel the same kind of pain that he is feeling. Ivana starts crying and screaming. The entire bed is being covered with strands of her golden locks. But The Donald is not finished. He rips off her clothes and unzips his pants. Then he jams his penis inside her for the first time in more than sixteen months. Ivana is terrified. This is not lovemaking. This is not romantic sex. It is a violent assault. She later describes what The Donald is doing to her in no uncertain terms. According to the versions she repeats to some of her closest confidantes, "He raped me." When The Donald finally pulls out, Ivana jumps up from the bed. Then she runs upstairs to her mother's room. She locks the door and stays there crying for the rest of the night. The next morning Ivana musters up the courage to return to the master bedroom. The Donald is there waiting for her. He leaves no doubt that he knows exactly what he did to her the night before. As she looks in horror at the ripped-out hair scattered all over the bed, he glares at her and asks with menacing casualness: "Does it hurt?
When Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump was to be released, Ivana Trump provided a statement that was inserted into the book. It read:
During a deposition given by me in connection with my matrimonial case, I stated that my husband had raped me. I wish to say that on one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a 'rape,' but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.
Ivana's statement does not contradict her deposition nor exonerate Donald for his abusive conduct. Her statement did not deny Donald's conduct of pushing her, pulling her hair out from her scalp, or sexually "violating" her. (It is important to note that the Trump's 1991 Settlement Agreement includes a gag order which forbids Ivana from speaking about her marriage to Donald without his permission.) Her smart lawyers were very aware that for her to say that the abuse did not occur would be a per se admission to committing perjury during a deposition, which is a big-time "no-no".
Ivana claim of rape was believed by a judge and in 1990 she was granted a divorce, in New York, on the grounds of "Cruel and Inhumane Treatment". In New York, a couple cannot divorce absent a showing of grounds, unlike every other State. In all other states, a couple can file under the oh so popular, "irreconcilable differences" grounds.
In New York, there are only six grounds that a person seeking a divorce can raise as a basis for sustaining a divorce action:
- Cruel and inhuman treatment of the plaintiff by the defendant
Ivana could have opted to seek a divorce on other grounds, but when one files on the grounds of "Cruel and Inhumane Treatment" one is attempting to make a powerful statement about their spouse and shine a light on the dark realities of their marriage.
New York courts don't willy-nilly grant divorces on this ground. The law dictates, (1) Cruel and inhuman treatment such that the conduct of the defendant so endangers the physical or mental well being of the plaintiff as renders it unsafe or improper live with the defendant. DRL 170(1). "The law requires that the defendant's actions be designed to inflict physical or emotional suffering upon the plaintiff. An isolated act of physical violence alone is insufficient to establish cruel and inhuman treatment. However, an isolated act of violence coupled with other cruel treatment, such as mental cruelty, will give rise to an action for divorce."
As recently as 2015, Ivana again, offered a vague statement in response to a Daily Beast article about Donald's attack on her. In a statement released to CNN, Ivana stated, "I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit."
Again, no denial of the rape. And most importantly, there was no denial of the scalp reduction surgery, which is obviously the focus of this article.