President Donald Trump had his underlings show off shiny new shoes he bought them for his big interview with The New York Times.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—both reportedly floated in private by Trump as his possible successors in 2028—were not shy about the president dictating their footwear.
On Wednesday, Trump, 79, sat down for over two hours with journalists from the paper he regularly attacks. During the interview in the Oval Office, POTUS pored over a host of familiar topics, and generally “struck a father figure tone to aides and advisers in the room,” NYT reported.
The paper’s reporters recounted that Trump had referred to several of them, including Vance, 41, and Rubio, 54, as “kids.” Both men were wearing shoes that Trump had gifted them after taking issue with their footwear.
At one point, the paper notes, Vance and Rubio even “showed off their shoes,” which they said were “purchased by the president.”
“Vance lifted his leg in the air to show the president the pair he was wearing,” White House Correspondent Katie Rogers wrote.
The men were both wearing black dress shoes with slightly different designs, with one pair described as tuxedo shoes. Rubio was photographed earlier on Wednesday embracing House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on The Hill. In the pictures, Rubio’s shiny leather shoes are visible, though they did not appear to fit.
Trump ordered the footwear after pausing a meeting to criticize their “f****g shoes,” according to Vance, who revealed at a holiday party last month that Trump had told them he’d buy them four pairs each and demanded their sizes.
And, according to a cringe anecdote told by Vance, Trump also made a crude reference to penis size.
“The president kind of holds up his hand and says, ‘No, no, no, hold on a second. There’s something much more important. Shoes,’” Vance recalled, saying Trump halted a “very important” Oval Office meeting.
“He says, ‘Marco, what’s your shoe size?’ And Marco’s apparently an 11 and a half. He says, ‘JD, what’s your shoe size?’ My shoe size is 13,” the vice president recounted, saying that Trump had pulled out a shoe catalogue.
Vance claimed a third politician admitted to wearing a lowly size seven, prompting the president to “lean back in his chair” and make the sexual quip.
“You know, you can tell a lot about a man by his shoe size,” Vance claimed the president said. He turned to his wife, Usha, and added, “We won’t ask the second lady for comment on that particular topic.”
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