‘She Looks Completely Different’: Resurfaced Photo of Trump’s 27-Year-Old Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Before Her Congressional Run Has Fans Doing a Double Take
A critic of controversial White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared before-and-after photos of the New Hampshire native on social media as a way of insinuating she’s undergone cosmetic surgery.
That tweet, originally shared on April 15, included a picture of Leavitt from 2022, the year she ran for the New Hampshire 1st District congressional seat and lost, along with a more recent picture of the 27-year-old face of the Donald Trump administration from this year.
While it has not been confirmed that Leavitt went under the knife to change her facial features, other X users still weighed in on her apparent altered look.
“She looked much better before. Now she looks like someone reanimated the corpse of Michael Jackson and gave it a makeover,” joked one person on the social networking app.
“She looked so beautiful back then,” added another.
A third X user expressed, “She looks completely different. Should’ve remained herself.”
Karoline Leavitt hates when asked about gender affirming surgeries.
DO NOT RETWEET THIS, The @PressSec is very sensitive about it. pic.twitter.com/rTt2EQq21p
— DonkConnects
(@donkoclock) April 15, 2025
A similar tweet read, “Additionally, IMO, she looked better before the MJ nose. She looks closer in age to her husband now. I guess that’s what she was going for?”
While some are convinced Leavitt made tweaks to her face, others believe the photos show two different women.
“I do not believe these are the same people. I just can’t,” said one individual while another noted, “This is an obviously edited picture cmon now keep this crap on Facebook.”
After meeting real estate developer Nicholas Riccio in 2022, Leavitt showed off an engagement ring on Christmas Day 2023. They welcomed their son, Nicholas “Niko” Riccio, in July 2024.
She married Riccio, 60, in January 2025 at the Wentworth By The Sea Country Club in New Hampshire. The ceremony took place days before Trump’s second inauguration on Jan. 20, though she didn’t share images from her big day until March 2025.
Leavitt did get some backing on X against the attacks on her perceived change in appearance. One of her defenders suggested, “Had a baby. Put on weight. Put on makeup.”
“She looks good in both,” someone else argued.
Leavitt has repeatedly been the target of online mockery. In March 2025, she was mercilessly trolled over side-by-side images from her time as a college softball player and her time in the White House.