What’s vexing Donald Trump now? Kamala Harris’ looks.

By Jesse McKinley

Of all the issues that seemingly preoccupy the mind of Donald Trump — his perceived persecutions, the evil of his enemies, the size of the rallies — there is one that may be the most consistent: other people’s looks.

The former president’s obsession with personal appearance dates back decades, but has flared anew with the candidacy of Kamala Harris, a Democrat whose looks he has repeatedly mentioned this month, comparing his opponent’s appearance on the cover of Time magazine to that of “the most beautiful actress ever to live.”

Trump also compared her face on the Time cover to Sophia Loren, his wife Melania, and then, finally, in a jaw-dropper for a man known for such jaw-droppers, asserting that he was “much better looking than her.”

“Much better,” Trump, 78. “I’m a better-looking person than Kamala.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, during a campaign event at the UAW Local 900 in Wayne, Mich., Aug. 8, 2024. Former President Donald Trump showed great interest in Harris’s appearance on the cover of Time magazine. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)

Following this logic, that also makes him better looking than his former-model wife, in his estimation. And while such a statement was met with astonishment and amusement from his Democratic opponents, Trump’s fixation on other people’s looks has been used as both a devastating political tool and — specialists in male psychology say — a means of bolstering his own sense of self.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a president who was more obsessed with other people’s appearance,” said Michael Kimmel, the author of “Manhood in America.” “This is a man for whom appearances are everything, from his fake tan to his haircut to lying about his weight. He’s obsessed with physicality.”

Others have remarked on Harris’ appearance. At the Democratic National Convention this week, Bill Clinton described Harris as having a “thousand-watt smile.” And even back in 2013, Barack Obama made news when he said she was “by far the best looking attorney general in the country.”

But Trump’s comments are seemingly habitual. Indeed, many of Trump’s well-honed campaign insults involve people’s personal appearances, a way of projecting dominance over other people, Kimmel and other mental health professionals say, by displaying strength over your opponents.

The examples litter Trump’s electoral career: “Little Marco,” for example, a nickname he used in 2016 for cutting down Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is about 5-foot-8, or casually suggesting that the former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, was a “fat pig.”

With women, the talk has often been even more offensive, such as when Trump denied having attacked writer E. Jean Carroll, saying she was “not my type.” (Manhattan juries nevertheless found Trump had sexually abused and defamed Carroll, holding him liable for a combined total of nearly $90 million.)

While Trump’s insults are plentiful, there is also a strange corollary: Trump often peppers his public comments with praise, sometimes going out of his way, for example, to compliment men’s looks.

Take his triumphant post-debate rally in late June in Chesapeake, Virginia, where Trump called the son of Virginia’s governor, Glenn Youngkin, “much better looking” than his father, told a former member of Congress that he “looked good,” and gushed that Derrick Anderson, a Republican congressional candidate, was “like a movie star.”

More recently, Trump has also opined that one of the best traits of his running mate — Sen. JD Vance of Ohio — was his looks, including his beard and simmering blue eyes.

Trump’s stump speech also sometimes lathers praise on other men’s looks, as he reminisces about his interactions with a negotiator sent by the Mexican president during his time in the Oval Office.

“He sent me this very handsome guy: Very good, so handsome, so beautifully dressed,” Trump said, during a February speech in Maryland, about the Mexican delegate, adding he wanted to ask about the price of his suit. “He was a handsome devil.”

Andrew Reiner, a senior lecturer at Towson University who has written extensively on masculinity, said that “as crazy as it sounds, this is actually progress for him.”

“Trump, always, in the past, would go straight for the jugular,” he said. “Now he’s leading with a compliment and following up with a punch.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) looks on as Donald Trump speaks during a Republican presidential debate in Coral Gables, Fla., March 10, 2016. When it comes to compliments, Trump often saves the best ones for himself. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)

The roster of men who have earned Trump’s praise have included a wide array of celebrities, politicians and government employees, including Cary Grant and Sidney Poitier; the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan; various members of the Secret Service; and a group of American pilots he met as president, who he called “the most handsome human beings I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s not my thing, but they are handsome — not my thing, not even a little bit — But they are handsome: central casting,” he said, at an event in February. “Better looking than Tom Cruise, but taller.”

“Central casting” is something that Trump — a former reality television star — seems particularly interested in. He’s long fancied himself as a fine arbiter of feminine beauty — a braggadocio dating back decades to Trump’s days as a rich bachelor at play in Manhattan — regularly surrounding himself with an array of attractive, often high-heeled female aides, both in government and on “The Apprentice.” One particular object of his affection is his daughter Ivanka, whose beauty he has repeatedly praised.

Avrum Weiss, a psychologist and the author of “Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships,” said that Trump’s flattery and fusillades may simply underlie an insecurity about himself.

“He’s incredibly concerned about his own appearance,” Weiss said, adding, “It’s a game of king of the mountain: if other men look less attractive, then he looks more attractive.”

At times, Trump’s willingness to compliment his fellow men’s physical traits often suggests either grudging deference or genuine respect. It’s a habit that was recently on display during Trump’s criminal trial, when he commented on the looks of the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, on several occasions, including in a post-conviction speech, in which he said the justice “looks like an angel, but he’s really a devil.”

“He looks so nice and soft,” Trump added.

To be sure, Trump sometimes uses a compliment as a setup to a put-down, such as when he had talked about Andrew Gillum, a former candidate for governor in Florida who later went to rehab for a drug addiction. On several instances, Trump has praised Gillum’s looks before adding that he “turned out to be a crack addict.”

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), at a joint campaign rally at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich., July 20, 2024. After choosing Vance as his running mate, Trump repeatedly praised the senator’s looks. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

It’s also clear that Trump dislikes praise of other men, particularly Obama.

“They say, ‘He’s so handsome, oh, Obama’s so handsome, he’s such a great speaker,’” Trump said last year in Pennsylvania. “What does he say? He says nothing.”

And as Trump’s remarks about his comparative looks with Harris suggest, the former president also likes to hear nice things about himself, even if he’s the one doing the complimenting. During the Manhattan criminal trial, for instance, he posted that — appearances to the contrary — he was not sleeping in the courtroom but merely resting his own “beautiful blue eyes.”

Nor does the former president seem immune from simply fishing for a compliment, such as a moment in 2022, when Trump addressed a crowd in Ohio, suggesting he saw an attractive person in the crowd.

“Oh what a handsome …” Trump began.

Then, he paused.

“President,” he added, about himself.

The crowd roared.

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