Karoline Leavitt’s Transformation: A Look at Her Evolving Appearance Through 7 Photographs

A lot has been said about Karoline Leavitt’s lips, which have changed in size since she took her position as White House press secretary. During an interview with Newsmax in August 2025, Donald Trump made a creepy comment about Leavitt’s lips. The president was trying to heap praise on his press secretary’s work, but decided to instead focus on her physical attributes. “She’s become a star. It’s that face. It’s that brain. It’s those lips, the way they move. They move like she’s a machine gun,” Trump said.

Her appearance in a Vanity Fair photoshoot became a viral sensation, particularly highlighting her noticeably fuller lips. Leavitt herself has showcased her prominent pout on Instagram. Following the conclusion of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, she shared a series of photos summarizing her experiences. In the initial image of her boarding Air Force One, her lips appear notably enlarged. Throughout the post, the size of her lips varies, with some images from earlier in the campaign showing a thinner appearance. Older photographs starkly contrast with her current look, emphasizing how her lips have evolved during her time with the Trump administration.

The Vanity Fair photoshoot may be the most viral post showcasing her seemingly enhanced mouth, but Leavitt has flaunted her puffy pout on Instagram herself. Following the wrap of Trump’s presidential campaign in November 2024, she posted the above carousel recapping her time on the road with POTUS. In the first slide showing her boarding Air Force One, her top and bottom lips look huge. Leavitt’s lips fluctuate in size throughout the post and look much thinner in some pics, which were likely from earlier in the campaign. Older pics of Leavitt show how jarringly different her lips used to be in size compared to her Trump administration look.

In a July 2017 Instagram post, Karoline Leavitt was virtually unrecognizable from the person who gained notoriety as Donald Trump’s press secretary. The post featured a young Leavitt in a floral halter top and jean shorts with a cute fluffy dog perched on her lap. She flashed a giant smile, and her lips were noticeably smaller. Perhaps it’s due to her deep summer tan, but it’s hard to tell where her lips end and the rest of her face begins. Leavitt’s lip filler sticks out often now, but some Instagrammers pointed out that it was missing in the photo. “Clearly, this is BEFORE her lips and nose jobs,” one wrote.

In December 2021, seeking warmer climates, Leavitt traveled to Florida and shared a photo from a waterside restaurant. Sporting a fitted white bodysuit that matched her bleached, frizzy hair, she continued the white theme with pale, shimmery highlighter around her eyes. Her pink lipstick was apparent as she smiled for the camera, unknowingly foreshadowing the more pronounced lips she would later come to have.

In a June 2023 Instagram post, Karoline Leavitt flaunted her legs in a pair of jean shorts and a black tank top. She accessorized with a trucker hat that read, “Republicans Are Hotter.” Smiling for the camera, Leavitt’s lips were not as prominent as they would later be, and her lip gloss wasn’t much help. Her fluctuating pout was noticed by people in the comment section. “How many size lips do you carry in your purse?” one troll asked. In the following slide, Leavitt pursed her lips to accentuate them, but they were still clearly much smaller than during her time with the Trump administration.

Long before she officially worked there, Karoline Leavitt visited the White House during the December 2020 holiday season. As seen in an Instagram pic at the time, she rocked a sparkly V-neck dress that put her figure on display. She was darkly tanned for the winter season, aside from the white flashback on her undereye area and cheeks. She made sure to apply a thick coat of red lipstick to match her outfit. It made Leavitt’s lips stand out, but it also showed how little lip there was to cover with makeup. 

To escape the cold in December 2021, Karoline Leavitt went down to Florida. She posted an Instagram photo that showed her sitting at a table of a waterside restaurant. She wore a tight-fitting white bodysuit that was almost the same color as her frizzy hair, which looked bleached to oblivion. Keeping with the white motif, the highlighter around Leavitt’s eyes was pale and shimmery. She also had on pink lipstick, but as she smiled for the camera, little did she know that she was only further highlighting how embellished her lips would later become.

Karoline Leavitt was dressed casually in a June 2020 Instagram photo with her nephew. Even though she was dressed down, she still sported makeup, including bronzer and heavy mascara on her spider lashes. But at least she appeared to go light on the lip gloss. What made this picture stand out from other throwbacks of her natural lips was that this was a close-up shot of Leavitt’s smile. It was similar to others in one aspect, however, as her darkened complexion made her lips almost indiscernible from the rest of her face.

The oldest photo of the bunch is perhaps the most glaring example of how Karoline Leavitt’s lips have changed over the years. After attending a soccer match in Rome in April 2018, Leavitt uploaded an Instagram photo of her and a friend inside the stadium. Her face shone under the light of the camera, and her lipstick became hardly perceptible on her thin lips when she smiled. After Leavitt took her position at the White House, Instagram users went back and noticed the obvious change in her pout. “Before the sh***y lip filler,” one trolling user wrote.