Trump's Sudden Infatuation With Kristi Noem Should Have Karoline Leavitt Worried

People started questioning the relationship between Donald Trump and Kristi Noem after he made some eyebrow-raising comments about her during an event. This came on the heels of Trump's creepy comments about Karoline Leavitt's lips. The president gushed over his press secretary during an August 1, 2025, interview with Newsmax. "She's become a star. It's that face. It's that brain. It's those lips, the way they move," Trump said about Leavitt. A few weeks later, it appeared that Trump had a new favorite member of the administration. While speaking to a crowd of law enforcement agents in the Washington, D.C., area, he gushed over Noem. "This is my Kristi, dear. Thank you very much. She's been incredible, and she can ride a horse like nobody. She gets on those horses; she rips those horses around," Trump said on August 21.

Trump: This is my Kristi, dear, thank you very much. She's been uhh incredible, and she can ride a horse like nobody. She rips those horses around pic.twitter.com/B0uk8tADkP

— FactPost (@factpostnews) August 21, 2025

A clip of Trump fawning over the Secretary of Homeland Security was shared on X, and many noted a through line of POTUS's comments. "Can he talk about women and not make it weird?" one user asked. "Is he referencing himself as the horse? What in the actual f***??" a perplexed member of the Twitterati wrote. "Can you imagine a fortune 500 CEO making that statement and keeping their job," another commented, pointing out the inappropriateness of Trump's choice of words.

It was not a one-way street with Trump flattering Noem, as a week earlier, she had high praise for Trump while discussing his impact on illegal immigration. "These numbers just show exactly the genius of Donald J Trump. The brilliant mind that he has," Noem said during an August 14 Fox News appearance. That came after Trump had been effusive when talking about Noem earlier in the summer.

While speaking to a crowd at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility, Donald Trump mentioned how he was reluctant at first to appoint Kristi Noem as the Secretary of Homeland Security because of her appearance. "Are you kidding me? She's great, but she's such a fine, elegant person," Trump said. "You are tough as hell, and you do it in a very nice way," he added while turning to address Noem. He then mentioned her horseback riding prowess for some reason. "If you ever saw her ride a horse, she rides a horse like she should be in the rodeo," the president said.

Nearly every time Trump has mentioned Noem, he's shoehorned in a mention of her looks. When he was on the campaign trail in March 2024, and Noem was still among the list of potential running mates, Trump introduced her to a crowd. "We have a very special woman who's hot as a politician," he said on C-Span. "She's doing an incredible job in South Dakota. She's the governor, Kristi Noem," Trump added.

A couple of months later, Noem seemingly sabotaged her shot at getting the nod to be on the ticket with Trump when she released her controversial book "No Going Back," which featured a story about shooting an unruly young dog when she lived on a farm. Trump's reaction to Noem's puppy scandal was telling, as he came to her defense. "She had a rough couple of days. I will say that," he told Spectrum News 1 in May 2024. Despite the blowback, Trump remained in Noem's corner. "I like her a lot," he added, praising Noem without even mentioning her looks.