US President Donald Trump’s recent antics during a press conference on board an Air Force One flight have ignited a new controversy, with many calling out his insensitive remarks directed towards his White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. The businessman-turned-politician jokingly made a comment about not wanting to ‘grab’ Leavitt, which doesn’t seem to have sat well with netizens.
Donald Trump makes a joke involving Karoline Leavitt during rough Air Force One flight
On January 11, while returning to Washington from his weekly retreat at the Mar‑a‑Lago resort in Florida, the POTUS decided to address a group of reporters mid-air.
In a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by @CalltoActivism, as the journalists tried to question him about his intention regarding a possible meet-up with Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, Donald Trump dodged the query. He said, “I’m looking for something to grab here because it’s going to get rough,” as he alluded to the ongoing turbulence.
Standing in the hallway of the Air Force One flight, Trump added, “I don’t seem to be in a great… I think you did this to me. You put me in a position where there is absolutely nothing to grab,” while the reporters continued to double down on their questions. He then looked at Karoline Leavitt, who was standing right behind him, before jokingly stating, “I’m looking for something to grab, and it’s not going to be Karoline.”
Notably, this isn’t the first time that Donald Trump has made a contentious joke at Leavitt’s expense. During a 2025 rally, he tried to praise the youngest White House Press Secretary in history by stating, “She gets up there with that beautiful face and those lips that don’t stop…Like a little machine gun.”
Trump then reiterated the remark in yet another October 2025 conference, wherein he confidently claimed that Karoline Leavitt will never be replaced. He followed this claim by adding, “Those lips, they move like a machine gun.” (via New York Post)
