Political Figures Who Were Unrecognizable Before Their Mar-A-Lago Face Makeovers

'Mar-a-Lago' face was everywhere in 2025, as a growing number of political figures, ranging from Kristi Noem to Matt Gaetz, appeared to embrace the trend. The aesthetic, characterized by overly smooth skin and exaggerated features (think big lips and puffy cheeks), first started taking off in January 2025 after Donald Trump won his second term in office. As plastic surgeon Dr. Kelly Bolden told The Guardian, the look doesn't require going under the knife: "It's overdone filler and Botox that gives them that mask-face type of appearance."

Perhaps it's this ease that also helped the trend take off among everyday people from Florida to Washington, D.C. According to plastic surgeon Dr. Anita Kulkarni, she'd never before had so many clients ask for too much filler in their lips, cheeks, and jawlines. Indeed, she actually had to start turning folks away, telling them, "If I put any more in there, you're going to cross over from looking like the best version of yourself to looking like Maleficent." And while some beauty experts believe we'll move from Mar-a-Lago face to more natural appearances in 2026, the stronghold Mar-a-Lago face has on these top Republican figures says otherwise.

When it comes to Mar-a-Lago face, no one has embraced the trend as wholeheartedly as Kimberly Guilfoyle. Indeed, the model-turned-U.S. Ambassador to Greece has gone all in on the trend, drastically changing her natural features. Not surprisingly, the plastic surgery rumors surrounding Kimberly Guilfoyle have been non-stop, but while she has never publicly addressed them, it's hard not to assume she's undergone a long list of procedures. Interestingly, though, experts like plastic surgeon Dr. Gary Motykie believe her initial goal wasn't to change her appearance but, rather, to slow down the natural effects of aging, per the Daily Mail. Indeed, a throwback photo Guilfoyle posted to Instagram shows she's always had full lips and model-worthy cheekbones.

According to Dr. Motykie, Guilfoyle likely received in filler in her lips and cheeks to maintain her look, but it soon got out of hand. Plastic surgeon Dr. Dennis Schimpf agreed, telling Glam, "I think initially she started out with Botox to her forehead, crow's feet around her eyes, and glabella area." Unfortunately, she likely kept returning to the salon so often that she simply overdid it, causing what he dubbed a "filler creep effect." What's more, Dr. Schimpf believes Guilfoyle ultimately went under the knife in her chase for youth, possibly opting for a nose job, eyelid lift, and more. "It appears she has most likely had a neck and lower or possibly complete facelift in an effort to maintain her tight jawline, neck, and address howling that occurs with natural aging," he explained.

Far-right activist Laura Loomer is no stranger to making headlines, but it's not just her political views that have gotten people talking. Never one to shy away from speaking her truth, Loomer proudly told followers in 2017 that she was getting lip fillers and a rhinoplasty. "I am so excited for my nose job!!" she gushed in a since-deleted Instagram post (via Forward). However, many believe she didn't stop there. Dr. Rian Maercks, for example, told Daily Mail that Loomer has possibly also had a mini face lift, while Dr. Matthew Nykiel noted he saw signs of a possible eyelid lift, as well as "dermal fillers or fat grafting" in her cheeks.

Indeed, Loomer looked so different before the plastic surgery that many online believe she's overdone it and made herself look much older than her age. "I'm 39 and now consider myself a stunner," quipped one redditor in response to a photo of Loomer at 31 years old. Even so, Loomer is adamant she hasn't had any new procedures. Offering a different explanation for her changing face, she tweeted in 2025, "I lost about 70 pounds, which changes your face, and I dyed my hair black." Dr. Joel Kopelman agreed, telling Nicki Swift that weight can in fact alter your appearance, but he also noted she's likely been using fillers regularly. "Her skin looks smoother and her cheeks more voluminous, which are common outcomes from Botox and dermal fillers like Voluma," he mused.

It's not just political figures who are embracing Mar-a-Lago face. In 2025, plastic surgeon Dr. Norman Rowe told Daily Mail that many of his everyday clients in Palm Beach, Florida want to achieve the same look, and Ivanka Trump is the name they cite most often. Plastic surgeon Matthew J. Nykiel concurred, telling HuffPost it's not just Floridians using Ivanka as their muse, but rather, Mar-a-Lago face as a whole is "often modelled after Ivanka Trump's signature look."

The trend is not a recent one, either. Back in 2016, ahead of Donald Trump's first term in office, women in New York had already started asking surgeons to make them look more like Ivanka. And while she's kept mum on her changing features, plastic surgeons agree that she's likely had multiple procedures through the years. Dr. Raja Mohan, for example, told The List she saw signs of a rhinoplasty ahead of Ivanka's 25th birthday. Dr. Gary Linkov agreed, but noted this was likely performed closer to her 18th birthday. In a YouTube video dedicated to analyzing Ivanka's transformation, Dr. Linkov also spotted signs of a second rhinoplasty and possible chin implant around 2002, followed by the introduction of Botox in 2012, cheek filler in 2019, and a brow lift in 2022. As for Ivanka's most recent look, Dr. Raffi Hovsepian analyzed a 2025 snap of the first daughter and told Radar, "Ivanka's face now carries more central fullness ... [as well as] softness along her jawline," both of which are telltale signs of fillers.

Erika Kirk has often confused MAGA events for a beauty pageant, an observation which becomes less surprising when you realize she used to be a full-blown beauty queen. Back in 2007, Kirk (who was using her maiden name at the time and competing as Erika Frantzve) won the National American Miss Teen Arizona crown. Jump to 2011 and she took home the title of Miss Arizona USA which earned her a spot in the 2012 Miss USA competition. Images she posted to Instagram at the time show a 23-year-old Kirk with noticeably slimmer lips, a more prominent jawline, and an all-around less rounded face than we're used to seeing these days. According to plastic surgeon Dr. Frederick Weniger, that's the result of filler being used to make her features plumper. "The middle of her face appears a little fuller, especially through the apples of the cheeks and the under-eye area," Dr. Weniger told Glam. Similarly, he noted how her more pronounced jawline could have also been achieved with fillers, not to mention the fact that "her lips look slightly more consistent in shape and volume than they did in her early 20s."

Aesthetic dermatologist Dr. Saman Zeeshan also believes Kirk has been turning to fillers, albeit too much. "This is what people fear Botox will do to their brows," she wrote on Instagram alongside a clip of Kirk speaking, in which her forehead barely moves. As she observed, there's "no movement between brows, startled look, and no expressions at all."

Just like Erika Kirk, Kristi Noem was once a beauty queen, though the pageant she competed in was on a much smaller scale. Noem won South Dakota's Snow Queen title in 1990 and, just like Erika Kirk, she looked totally different than she does now. In a throwback snap posted to Facebook, her natural features stand out, complemented by neutral makeup and none of Noem's now-signature fake eyelashes or extensions. Indeed, Noem spent the whole beginning of her political career looking like a down-to-earth rancher, sporting various short hairstyles and a subtle beauty look.

However, like many of her political allies, Kristi Noem's face has drastically changed through the years. Indeed, these days, the secretary of homeland security is as much talked about for her brash views as her bold aesthetic. Analyzing images of Noem's changing face, cosmetic surgeon Giselle Prado-Wright told RadarOnline in 2025, "Everything looks very plump, which is a telltale sign of heavy filler use, and may give the face a slightly overfilled or 'pillow face effect.'" In addition to fillers and Botox, Prado-Wright believes Noem may also have opted for a mini facelift, but plastic surgeon Jimmy Sung disagreed. As he told The Mirror in 2025, he believes Noem hasn't gone under the knife, instead achieving her Mar-a-Lago face solely with injectables, including one called Kybella, which is used to smooth out the neck.

Despite being one of the youngest members of Donald Trump's inner circle, Karoline Leavitt appears to be embracing the exaggerated facial enhancements tied to Mar-a-Lago face. Looking at a snap Leavitt posted to her Instagram back in 2015, the press secretary's features appear radically different than what we're now used to seeing. Most noticeable in the throwback photo are her thinner lips, fuller cheeks, and a more prominent chin. Comparing before-and-after images of Leavitt, plastic surgeon Dr. Frederick Weniger told Nicki Swift that he sees signs of a number of potential procedures, ranging from "subtle rhinoplasty" to less invasive options. "The overall facial refinement, including a potentially more sculpted jawline and smoother skin tone, may also indicate non-surgical enhancements, such as dermal fillers or skin resurfacing treatments," he shared.

Despite ignoring rumors about her changing appearance, Leavitt's penchant for lip injections was put on full display in 2025 when a close-up photo of her face appeared in Vanity Fair, showing a line of tiny red dots running along the outline of her lips. "The marks are likely from very recently injected lip filler," plastic surgeon Dr. Anita Kulkarni told HuffPost. Dermatologist Dr. Corey L. Hartman agreed, noting, "It appears as though those red spots are a vascular response to needle entry points used to deliver a soft tissue filler."

Matt Gaetz has made headlines for a whole slew of reasons, but back in July 2024, it was his facial features that really got people talking. The chatter began when Gaetz took to the stage at the Republican National Convention and captivated onlookers with his strikingly different appearance. Gone was his naturally lined forehead, which was replaced by taut skin that failed to move or show emotion as he spoke. However, it was his overly arched eyebrows that really hit a chord, launching endless memes comparing Gaetz to everyone from Super Mario to the stars of the Real Housewives franchise. According to dermatologist Corey L. Hartman, the issue stemmed from Gaetz injecting too much Botox in all the wrong places. "It's too heavy in the forehead and not lateral enough to prevent Spock Eye," he told Esquire.

Aesthetic injector Rachel Rubin agreed, telling Instagram she was hard-pressed to believe Gaetz underwent an eyebrow lift, instead blaming the "Spock Brow" effect on too many badly placed injections that hit the wrong areas. Dermatologist Dr. Jason Emer also shared his take on Instagram and similarly concluded that "the toxin treatment was just done poorly," but he was quick to note that it likely wasn't Gaetz's intention to look the way he did. Rather, he explained that most injectors are unfamiliar with working on male faces, which can lead to such poor and overly fake results.

Lara Trump's appearance first began to change in late 2024 when the then-co-chair of the Republican National Committee suddenly showed off bigger, rounder eyes. Dr. Gizem Seymenoglu noted this was likely the result of a blepharoplasty, a procedure that removes excess skin and fat from around the eyes. "Her eyes look much more open and alert, and this may have been made possible by an upper eyelid surgery," the facial aesthetics specialist told The Irish Star. Unfortunately, some believe the results simply prove Lara Trump's face work has gone too far. In October 2025, Trump posted a video to Instagram in which her eyes looked bigger but also more sunken, leading to speculation that her blepharoplasty may not have gone according to plan.

While Trump hasn't addressed the rumors, many specialists believe she's been experimenting with an array of procedures. As Dr. Seymenoglu noted, Trump's "facial contours appear to have changed noticeably, and Botox and fillers seem like potential contributors to this development." Analyzing before-and-after images, she told The Irish Star she believes Trump targeted her forehead and cheeks to achieve an overall smoother and plumper aesthetic. According to plastic surgeon Dr. Frederick Weniger, it's possible Trump also have opted for surgery on the lower part of her face, especially because it shows no signs of natural aging. "The apparent lack of change to this important area over the years could indicate a lower face procedure, such as a mini facelift or deep plane lift," he told Glam.