President Donald Trump’s remarks about White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt are often met with criticism, as people struggle to determine whether they’re compliments or sarcastic insults. They also leave many wondering how his wife feels about his frequent comments on another women’s appearance.
While departing Egypt on Air Force One early Tuesday, the 79-year-old commander in chief asked reporters traveling with him a peculiar set of questions about his spokesperson.
“How’s Karoline doing? Is she doing good? Should Karoline be replaced?” When one journalist responded that the decision rested with him, Trump quickly declared, “It’ll never happen.”
He then added, “That face… and those lips, they move like a machine gun, right?” Leavitt herself chimed in with a lighthearted attempt to redirect the moment, asking, “Nobody wants to stick up for me?”
The exchange immediately sparked commentary across social platforms, with observers questioning why someone more than five decades into life would speak this way about a woman young enough to be his granddaughter.
“Why does Trump always use the creepiest words when he’s talking about women?” one person tweeted.
View on Threads
On Threads, another user referenced the president’s well-documented preference for younger women, noting, “Her man is in his [sixties]. She likes them old AF.”
Meanwhile, on the Daily Beast’s Facebook page, someone posed the question many were thinking: “Hey Melania, are you reading this?”
Reminding others of another presidential scandal that began from inside the White House, another said, “I’m sure Moni[c]a Lewinsk[y] felt the same way.”
Good Sunday morning, welcome to August 17th…
— Jeff Carlton (@JeffWCarlton) August 17, 2025
On this date in 1998, President Bill Clinton delivered a TV address to the nation in which he admitted his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was “wrong” but denied previously committing perjury.
Clinton and… pic.twitter.com/QnKMqbW5RC
The responses to that inquiry revealed a prevailing belief that the first lady made peace with her husband’s behavior long ago.
“As long as the check clears she doesn’t care what he does as long as he leaves her alone,” one commenter wrote.
Another suggested, “I doubt she’d mind someone else doing the heavy lifting.”
This wasn’t the first occasion Trump has fixated on his press secretary’s appearance.
During an August interview with Newsmax, he offered nearly identical commentary, saying, “She’s become a star. It’s that face. It’s that brain. It’s those lips, the way they move. They move like she’s a machine gun.”
At a White House press conference that same month, Trump’s summoned Leavitt to the podium, repeatedly calling her name and referring to her as his “superstar” before asking reporters if she was doing a good job.
The CEO of Trump Towers has a pattern of commenting on women’s physical attributes that extends far beyond Leavitt.
Where’s my superstar? Karoline get over here. pic.twitter.com/Uv5SJuBgT7
— joe miller (@joemill37087868) August 11, 2025
During a 2002 appearance on Howard Stern’s show, Trump declared that 30 was “a perfect age for a woman” and suggested that 35 marked “check-out time.” In that same conversation, he confirmed he would have no issue dating 24-year-olds. His remarks about women in professional settings have been equally troubling, according to MIC.
In a 2008 interview, he suggested that beautiful women in the workplace could be “very effective” by using their looks to their advantage, adding that “oftentimes a woman that’s beautiful doesn’t have to be as smart.”
“Beautiful” is also another word Trump uses to flirt with reporters during important meetings.
Even political figures haven’t been exempt from his assessments. When discussing Sarah Palin and other women in public life, CBS News reports, Trump emphasized that attractive women who know how to deploy charm can achieve success, questioning whether intelligence was as necessary for beautiful women as it might be for others.
The president would have many believe his wife is one of those women who have looks and charm. Interestingly enough, reports have surfaced suggesting Melania doesn’t have the same feelings toward her husband.
There have been multiple instances where the first lady seemed like she didn’t want to be around her husband, often pulling her hand away from Trump during public appearances or swatting his hand away at events.
As we have seen many times before in her infrequent public appearances with him, Melania is in a desperate struggle to escape his hand without it being painfully obvious to everyone. pic.twitter.com/honGgf7VYE
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 28, 2024
The notion that Melania doesn’t like the 45th and 47th president has been amplified by the fact that she doesn’t live full time in the White House.
Leavitt, for her part, is married to Nicholas Riccio, a 60-year-old real estate developer. The couple wed in January, just days before Trump’s second inauguration, and they share a young son named Niko.
As social media continues dissecting Trump’s latest comments, the consensus remains clear: Whether Melania is reading or not, the pattern of her husband’s fixation on younger women’s appearances has become impossible to ignore and increasingly uncomfortable to witness.
