Not surprisingly, many of the women President Donald Trump has appointed to his new cabinet are classically attractive. (He used to own the Miss Universe Pageant, remember.)  Among them is his White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, a former intern during his first administration. Leavitt has undergone a glamorous transformation since that time, but a comparison of her look before and after hopping on the Trump Train shows that in doing so, she has also fallen victim to the phenomenon known online as “Republican makeup.” This, according to Gen Z TikTok creator @facecarding, involves “clumpy mascara, cakey-a** foundation that’s always way too orange, and really bad half-lined lips,” to name just a few sins. 

Advertisement

Defying their huge age gap, Leavitt and Nicholas Riggio married in January 2025 at the Wentworth By the Sea resort hotel in New Hampshire, and Leavitt turned to the professionals to prep her look for the big day. Local makeup artist Sarah Alecia did the honors, posting the before-and-after video on Instagram. “It was an honor to be a part of it and glam your beautiful face,” she wrote. And so she did: evening out the bride’s skin tone, making her eyes pop with out-to-there lashes and metallic shadow, and creating a luscious lip with a nice shade of mauve. It was still a Republican-y makeover — the blush could have been subtler and the foundation paler — but Leavitt looked glowing nonetheless. And she definitely looked polished on her way down the aisle.

Advertisement

Sadly, Leavitt has since returned to her overly contoured, poorly lip-lined ways. If she wants to project a better image and break free of the trend, she may have to resort to the “You’re fired” tactic her boss is famous for using.

Comedian and TikTok influencer Suzanne Lambert coined the term “Republican makeup” to describe the heavy-handed look favored by popular conservative women. Alas, Karoline Leavitt has fallen victim to the Republican makeup trend numerous times since joining the Trump White House team, and it hasn’t escaped Lambert’s notice. In a recent TikTok, the self-titled “Regina George liberal” took aim at Leavitt’s makeup artist, who had recently blocked her over the online snark. Though Lambert (sort of) praised Leavitt’s change of hair part (it now “gives Lizzie McGuire’s mom” instead of Lizzie herself), she sighed that the press secretary’s “antique Clinique eyeshadow, the white concealer, the smudgy eyebrows [are] here to stay.” Lambert also noted the difference in color between Leavitt’s face and hands, a common gaffe among conservatives. (Donald Trump’s worst makeup fails include instances in which the president’s skin tone varied widely in different areas.) 

Advertisement

The influencer insists her criticisms are for the good not only of Leavitt, but also for America itself. “I want the press secretary who represents our country to look good,” she declared in another TikTok. “I don’t want her to look like she just stuck her face in a pile of talc.”  With that in mind, we can’t help wondering whether Leavitt would be better off having her wedding-day cosmetologist take over her workplace makeup application. Obviously, she would have to tone down certain elements (yes, the blush again), but it might give her a more professional appearance in the White House than she currently has.