47⬅ Donald Trump: Carpal Tunnel Scar?

The question is significant because finding carpal tunnel syndrome would greatly increase the odds that Trump has amyloidosis.

Questions, not answers

If there is a smoking gun that could resolve the suspicion about Donald Trump and amyloidosis, carpal tunnel syndrome would be it.

Ten percent of persons with carpal tunnel syndrome on both sides have amyloidosis deposits 1.

Carpal tunnel symptoms often appear early in systemic amyloidosis. Alone, they never indicate someone has amyloidosis because amyloidosis is a rare cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. But in a person already suspected to have amyloidosis, adding carpal tunnel can strongly tilt belief toward an amyloidosis diagnosis.

The question on this page is: Does Donald Trump have a scar on his right wrist that came from surgery on his carpal tunnel?

Surgery is a standard treatment for the syndrome, but surgeons can choose from a variety of operations that scar a variety of places on the hand and wrist. Unfortunately, the surgical literature provides little help in linking scar sites to some of the newer operative techniques. Experience is needed to sort out the possibilities, and my experience with carpal tunnel is limited.

This page, therefore, is more about asking questions than providing answers. There are mysteries here.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can occur years or even decades before the diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis is made. When that happens, it can really make a physician feel bad about themself, because the symptom was in front of their eyes long before the proper connection was made — too late for treatment to have a meaningful effect.

Situation

Photographs from early January 2026 and possibly July 2024 show what looks like a surgical scar in approximately the position where endoscopic carpal tunnel release operations leave their scar.

Nuances in the location, size, and evolution of the scar need addressing. It looks longer than the typical endoscopic scar, extending further medially than usual. Would a re-do operation leave a longer scar? What does a scar look like after an operation in the Guyon canal? Could the scar merge those of a carpal tunnel release and an ulnar nerve release? Is the scar-like appearance due just to change in lighting? Has he been wearing some kind of compression device on his wrist, as some photos suggest?

Because of these uncertainties, the summary diagram at the top of this page applies a question mark to "carpal tunnel scar."" I want to be very sure about it.

Scar in 2025-2026 holidays

Based on scarring, it appears that Trump has an operation on his right wrist between Dec. 28, 2025 and Jan. 6, 2026. During the entirety of this time he was at his Florida house.

• Dec. 28, 2025 [below]: The right wrist looks unremarkable.
  
  Dec. 28, 2025 / Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images — https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-and-ukranian-president-volodymyr-news-photo/2253089344

• Jan. 3, 2026 [below]: It looks like a pressure bandage has recently been removed from the right wrist, leaving behind indentations in the skin. Or could it be from a brace? Braces are commonly worn to stabilize the wrist at night before carpal tunnel surgery — what about after? The focus is not good enough to distinguish an unambiguous scar in this image. If Trump had nephrotic-type anasarca, it would not be unusual for a pressure bandage or brace to create indentations in an edematous wrist.
  
  Jan. 3, 2026 / Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images — https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-speaks-to-the-press-as-secretary-of-news-photo/2253884919

• Jan. 6, 2026 [below]: A dark linear structure that looks like a healing surgical incision. The hand is slightly extended at the wrist, stretching out the skin and showing that the linear structure is not simply a crease in the skin. The little droop at the left edge of the line further suggests it is not a skin crease.
  
  Jan. 6, 2026 / Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images — https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-speaks-during-the-house-republican-news-photo/2254307048

• Jan. 6, 2026 [below]: Another photo nicely shows the position and extent of the lesion. Here, too, there is some texture in the skin, proximal to the lesion.
  
  Jan. 6, 2026 / Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images — https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-speaks-during-the-house-republican-news-photo/2254308145

• Jan. 22, 2026 [below]: The line has largely lost its darkness, as if it had healed.
  
  Jan. 22, 2026 / Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images — https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-speaks-to-reporters-while-in-flight-news-photo/2257073738

It is, of course, always possible that Trump simply cut himself in that particular part of his body. That is made less likely if the Jan. 3 photo is accepted to show the residua of a pressure bandage, because one doesn't need a pressure bandage for a simple cut, even if taking aspirin. Plus, the cut (if it is a cut) is not wide as it would be if he caught on something or he fell. The lesion is thin like a scalpel cut or a paper cut, but it would be unusual to have a paper cut in the wrist.

Scar in July 2024

The lesion had its angry scar-like appearance 18 months earlier. I am at a loss to explain this. If there was an operation over the 2025-2026 holidays, was it a re-do?

July 13, 2024

Bruising comments

Bruising is off-topic for carpal tunnel scarring, but it is an obvious consideration in the photos above and brusing is a significant topic in Trump's health MORE.

July 13, 2024: Possibly Trump had bruising on his right wrist at the time he was shot in Butler, PA. If the markings are bruises, they would have existed before the shooting, not from his fall after the gunshot (because bruises do not form instantly — that would be bleeding).

The left and right images show bruise-like lesions. Perhaps these are blood stains or dirt stains. All the images show what appears to be tiny blood stains on his right sleeve cuff (zoom in to see). Almost exactly one year later, another image shows blood on the same cuff.

Credits:

• Left: July 13, 2024 | Gene J. Puskar/AP/File — https://www.independent.co.uk/news/donald-trump-ap-secret-service-new-york-maggie-haberman-b2579624.html
• Center: Newsweek | July 13, 2024 | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images — https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-plans-return-rally-butler-pennsylvania-1962479
• Right: Wall Street Journal | July 13, 2024 | Evan Vucci / Associated Press — https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-rally-incident/card/trump-pumps-fist-secret-service-says-he-is-safe-2ty5YQkCFu2YEaSny6wv