President Donald Trump couldn’t resist praising Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s viral Nike tracksuit.
Asked aboard Air Force One whether he had seen the secretary in the briefing room and what he thought, Trump immediately knew what was being referred to and responded: “You talking about his outfit?”
“I thought he looked very good in the outfit,” Trump, 79, said, adding, “Listen, I don’t know if I’d do it, but I thought he looked very good.”
The 54-year-old state secretary modeled his tracksuit—identical to the one worn by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when he was captured and transported to the U.S. in January—on Tuesday while traveling to China alongside Trump.
Rubio boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in a suit before switching into the Nike tracksuit once on board.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung quickly put the wardrobe change on display, posting a photo on X. and writing: “Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’ on Air Force One!”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom trolled the outfit choice by referencing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who issued a pre-Thanksgiving travel plea last year, urging airline passengers to show “civility,” including by not dressing “like they’re going to bed.”
Yet, the president, who has not hidden his admiration for men’s physiques in recent months, praised Rubio’s outfit choice and appeared unconcerned about any lack of “civility.”
On Thursday, the president remarked on the height of Chinese President Xi Jinping, describing him as “very tall,” with Xi standing at around 5ft 11in.
Last month, he also complimented Brazilian MMA fighter Paulo Costa, calling him a “beautiful guy,” saying he could “be a model” and was “too good-looking to be a fighter.”
Two weeks later, he praised the “very strong, physically strong, really attractive” law enforcement officers who escorted him from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen allegedly opened fire outside the venue in an apparent assassination attempt.
But the president’s compliment to Rubio carries even more weight than the others, as he has reportedly been asking friends and advisers to compare Vice President JD Vance, 41, and Rubio as potential contenders for a 2028 presidential run.
“JD is fantastic, and Marco is. They’re both fantastic, I think, really. And I think Marco did a great job in Munich,” Trump told reporters in February after being asked whether there was any scenario in which he would support Rubio at the top of the Republican ticket in 2028, following positive reviews of the secretary at the Munich Security Council.
On Monday, Trump polled attendees at a Rose Garden Club dinner, asking the audience for audible reactions about who would be a better candidate.
“Who likes JD Vance?” he asked, which was followed by what the president described as a “big” round of applause. He then added, “Who likes Marco Rubio?” prompting what Trump called a “very nice” reaction from the audience.
