It’s been clear for some time now that Karoline Leavitt will never leave Donald Trump’s side. And, you know what they say: Birds of a feather flock together. It frequently seems like Trump’s fragile ego is only holding on by a thread, and based on Leavitt’s latest move, she may be in the same boat.
Most of us have seen an unflattering photo of ourselves pop up on social media and groaned at least once in our lives. Yet, it seems that the press secretary does more than just groan when this happens; she expresses a desire for the photo to disappear, and it does. In November 2025, Leavitt served pilgrim style sporting a bland ‘fit for the annual White House Turkey Pardon. One photo from the event shows Leavitt holding her young son next to the guest of honor, a turkey named Waddle. The photo was snapped from below, showing Leavitt and Waddle looking down at the camera. Now, four months later, the photo has mostly been removed from the internet. And it seems that this is thanks to the White House’s dislike for the pic. According to the Daily Beast, Grégoire Lemarchand, the director of brand and communications at AFP explained, “While we were made aware that White House staff found the photo unflattering … there was no formal request to remove it, nor was there any external pressure involved.” From the sound of it, though, everyone was well aware that Leavitt wanted this photo removed, and it was.
This isn’t the first time the White House tried to eliminate an unflattering photo
It seems that once Karoline Leavitt made her desire to see this photo banished from the internet known, her wish came true. And, interestingly, this isn’t the first time this administration has made a similar move. Earlier this month, the Pentagon put the kibosh on the press taking photographs in the briefing room. This reportedly came after photos were snapped of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that were deemed “unflattering,” per Fox 11. This is certainly an extreme reaction to seeing an unbecoming pic of yourself online. It seems, though, that folks in the Trump administration may be getting increasingly comfortable with making photos they don’t like simply go away.
Back in December, Leavitt accidentally admitted that the now-infamous photo of her in Vanity Fair bruised her ego. So, perhaps she has decided to use her power where she can to make sure only the best photos of her make the rounds online. Unfortunately for her, news that the White House has reportedly taken issue with the turkey pardon photo drew attention to it. And now there is way more chatter going on about the pic than there was when it was easily accessible to the public.
