Fans of Karoline Leavitt have jumped to her defense after a Vanity Fair photoshoot went viral, which showed close-up images of the White House Press Secretary’s face.
Critics slammed the legacy publication for the ‘unflattering’ photos of President Donald Trump’s staff, which were published on Tuesday alongside a bombshell tell-all profile on Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about Trump’s first year in office.
The article featured portraits of several senior White House officials. In addition to Leavitt and Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Chiefs of Staff James Blair and Dan Scavino, and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller all participated in the shoot.
The series of images, also shared to social media, included an extreme close-up of the 28-year-old press secretary, with supporters claiming the publication was negatively biased towards Trump’s staff in comparison to profiles published about former President Joe Biden.
In a statement issued to the Daily Mail, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said: ‘It’s clear that Vanity Fair intentionally photographed Karoline and the White House staff in bizarre ways, and deliberately edited the photos, to try to demean and embarrass them.
‘Karoline is a beautiful person and truly one of the most incredible people you will meet in politics, and she is doing an extraordinary job serving the American people as the White House Press Secretary.’
In social media comments, people jumped to Leavitt’s defense, declaring Vanity Fair ‘liberal propaganda,’ and a ‘sorry excuse for journalism.’
‘Reality distortion machine,’ conservative commenter Benny Johnson posted to Instagram, with screengrabs of the images. ‘Disgusting.’
Critics have slammed the legacy publication for the ‘unflattering’ photos of President Donald Trump’s staff, which were published alongside a bombshell tell-all about his first year in office on Tuesday. Leavitt pictured at a briefing in 2025
‘That is insane, she’s gorgeous lol they had to work hard to make it look so unbelievable,’ one user wrote.
‘Karoline should take it as a compliment. They’re clearly threatened by her,’ declared someone else. ‘They know she’s stunning, and if she were on the other side, she’d be on the cover in a heartbeat. Love that she’s living rent free in all their heads.’
‘The extreme close up shows everyone just how beautiful Karoline really is! I wish I looked that good up close,’ gushed another.
‘Typical liberal propaganda,’ snarked one critic.
‘Shameful Vanity Fair,’ wrote someone else. ‘Purposely creating flaws in a young professional woman simply because you don’t agree with her political views… talk about speaking out of both sides of your mouth.’
‘Coming for a successful woman like this is so embarrassing,’ said another user.
Another person slammed Vanity Fair for the coverage, responding to a post Wiles made on X, formerly Twitter, about the article writing: ‘Why any conservative would think Vanity Fair would do a fair article is shocking. Of course, it will be negative with negative pictures, it is what they do.
‘Now a staff member of Biden’s or Obama’s would be “icons, stars in Dem party.”‘
On Vanity Fair’s Instagram, many people mocked Leavitt, leaving comments on the page and praising the publication.
Karoline Leavitt blasted Chris Whipple, who interviewed Wiles and other administration figures for Vanity Fair
Wiles (pictured) spoke with the publication over the course of the last year, likening Trump to her own late alcoholic father and legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, noting the president has ‘an alcoholic’s personality’
The series of images, shared to social media, included an extreme close-up of the 28-year-old press secretary (Vanity Fair image not pictured)
‘She’s 28 btw… why does she look 50’, one user asked.
Another said: ‘I am DECEASED!!!! The way I would enter a state of mania if this kind of closeup was posted of me!!! This will live forever and I LOVE it!!!!’
Others claimed they could see lip-filler injection marks around her mouth.
‘Are those injection prick marks?’ asked one reader, with another commenting: ‘Genius. The injection marks really sing in this one!’
In September, a plastic surgeon weighed in on rumors surrounding Leavitt’s pout, revealing to the Daily Mail exclusively whether or not Leavitt has had any cosmetic ‘tweakments’ done since she was thrust into the Washington spotlight.
According to Minnesota-based Dr Jennifer Harrington – who has not treated the political maven – whatever work Leavitt has had is quite subtle so far, if she’s even had any at all.
In fact, after viewing at footage and photos of Leavitt, Dr Harrington said that the 28-year-old looked ‘amazing.’
‘She does appear in this interview to have enhanced fullness of her upper and lower lips, and her skin is flawless,’ the founder of Harrington + Associates Plastic Surgery in Minneapolis-St. Paul told Daily Mail exclusively after an appearance Leavitt made on Fox News.
In 2023, when Leavitt was the national press secretary for Trump’s presidential campaign, she took to Instagram to share how she did her makeup for television appearances, as seen in a video resurfaced earlier in the year.
‘I receive a lot of questions about how I do my makeup when I go on TV… so I figured I’d show it!’ Leavitt wrote in the caption of the clip, which was originally posted in November 2023.
The mom-of-one revealed that when she has done her own makeup, she has used the $48 Plump and Prime Serum by Too Faced Cosmetics and then combined two foundations – Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty Soft’Lit Naturally Luminous Hydrating Longwear Foundation which retails at $40, and the $47 Too Faced Born This Way liquid foundation.
Leavitt also made sure to always contour, using a contour stick and applying it on her cheekbones, under the chin, and on the forehead.
She followed up with a shimmering powder bronzer by Too Faced, which seems to have since been discontinued.
Viewers noticed Leavitt had a plumper pout (left) compared to in 2017 (right) earlier in the year
Leavitt speaking about the Vanity Fair article on Tuesday, December 16
In September, Minnesota-based Dr Jennifer Harrington – who has not treated the political maven – told the Daily Mail that whatever work Leavitt has had is quite subtle so far, if she’s even had any at all
In 2023, Leavitt took to Instagram to share how she did her makeup for television appearances
The Vanity Fair profile of Wiles generated a firestorm over her candid criticism of Trump, Vance, former ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk and other members of the administration.
Wiles, 68, spoke with the publication over the course of the last year, likening Trump to her own late alcoholic father and legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, noting the president has ‘an alcoholic’s personality.’
‘The president operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing,’ Wiles told journalist Chris Whipple.
Notably, Trump does not drink and has spoken about losing his older brother, Fred, to addiction and alcoholism.
The chief of staff also dished on Vice President JD Vance, noting his late MAGA conversion and early critiques of Trump.
The VP, she added, has also been ‘a conspiracy theorist for a decade.’
Trump told The New York Post he knew what Wiles was trying to say.
He told the paper: ‘No, she meant that I’m – you see, I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that – but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality.’
‘I’ve said that many times myself. I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker,’ Trump told the Post. ‘If I did, I could very well, because I’ve said that – what’s the word? Not possessive – possessive and addictive type personality. Oh, I’ve said it many times, many times before.’
Trump didn’t respond to other portions of the two-part Vanity Fair series because he hadn’t seen it.
‘I didn’t read it, but I don’t read Vanity Fair – but she’s done a fantastic job,’ the President said of Wiles. ‘I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided.’
Leavitt used a similar line when she quickly addressed the controversy Tuesday afternoon on the White House driveway.
‘This is, unfortunately, another example of disingenuous reporting, where you have a reporter who took the chief of staff’s words wildly out of context, did not include the context those conversations were had within and then further, I think the most egregious part of this article was the bias of omission that was clearly present,’ the White House press secretary said.
She told reporters: ‘You will leave out important context, leave out comments and facts.’
