President Donald Trump apparently doesn’t like his wife, Melania, or his daughter, Ivanka.
“I don’t like good-looking people,” he bizarrely and randomly claimed during a rambling speech on board the USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on Tuesday.
He was attempting to make a point about the Navy’s “ultimate strength” when he deviated into rambling about their good looks.
“It comes from the men and women of the rank and file,” he said. “It comes from you people, incredible people, good-looking people, too many good-looking people.
“I don’t like good-looking people,” he continued, getting a laugh from the crowd. “I never liked good-looking people, I’ll be honest with you.”
“Never admitted that before,” he added, before launching into a rant about diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
The 79-year-old’s comments about his apparent distaste for good-looking people are strange, given that he often crows about the beauty of his family and other allies.
On The Howard Stern Show in 2003, he gave his daughter, Ivanka, the title of one of the “great beauties of the world.” He also complimented her body.
In 2006, Trump and Ivanka appeared on ABC’s The View, where he again made eyebrow-raising remarks about her looks. “I’ve said that if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I would be dating her,” he said.
“If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father …” he said suggestively in a 2015 Rolling Stone interview, returning to the topic of dating his daughter.
But his obsession with looks extends beyond just Ivanka. He, of course, finds his ex-model wife attractive. He has remarked on this many times. “Melania is a very beautiful woman both inside and out,” he said on ABC News in 2015, making a pitch for Melania to become the first lady.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump was also enamored by a supporter in the crowd at a rally in Arizona. “Where is that woman? Stand up! Look at her. Wow! I would say—that’s beautiful,” Trump said.
President Trump has fawned over the looks of conservative ally and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. At a White House gathering in August, Trump was caught on a hot mic telling Meloni, “You look fantastic.”
Earlier this month, Trump stood flanked by several world leaders, including Britain’s Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney, during the signing of a deal to end the Gaza war.
But it was Meloni, 48, that was on his mind. “We have a woman—a young woman who is… I’m not allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it,” he said. “She’s a beautiful young woman.”
He continued, “Now, if you use the word ‘beautiful’ in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career. But I’ll take my chances.” He then turned to Meloni, “You won’t be offended if I say you’re beautiful, right? Because you are.”
Meloni smiled awkwardly and nodded as Trump thanked her for attending the summit. Just days earlier, he made a similar comment about White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, telling reporters aboard Air Force One, “That face… and those lips, they move like a machine gun.” He used nearly identical phrasing in an August Newsmax interview.
The British royals, too, have not escaped his gaze. “You’re beautiful, so beautiful,” he immediately told Princess of Wales Kate Middleton when he arrived at Windsor Castle for a state visit last month. He has also remarked on her husband’s looks in the past.
After a December 2024 meeting with Prince William in Paris, France, following his election victory, Trump described the Prince of Wales as a “good-looking guy.”
“He looked really, very handsome last night. Some people look better in person. He looked great. He looked really nice, and I told him that,” the president-elect told the New York Post.
In May, Trump heaped praise on Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda fighter, calling him an “attractive” and “tough guy.”
Also in May, he complimented the looks of Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the emir of Qatar. “They’re both tall, handsome guys that happen to be very smart,” he said during a bilateral agreement signing ceremony with Qatar.
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