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← Signal: State & Power

Trump makes repeated comments about others' physical appearances at Michigan rally

Confirmed1 source · Oct 25, 2026

At a Michigan rally supporting Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, Trump reiterated comments about examining Senator Jon Husted's physique and made remarks about rapper Nicki Minaj's appearance.

Trump makes repeated comments about others' physical appearances at Michigan rally
Image via The Guardian

What happened

During a Sunday rally in Michigan, Trump encouraged the crowd to compliment Nicki Minaj's appearance, saying "I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before – Nicki Minaj." He was referencing and elaborating on earlier October comments about Ohio Senator Jon Husted, in which Trump said he had examined Husted's physical attributes—including his rear end, shoulders, feet, hands, and jawline—while assessing whether he was a great athlete. Trump characterized these examinations as contextual athletic evaluation, saying "I don't do this with men very often" and that his comments were "in fun."

Context

Trump was campaigning for Mike Rogers in a Michigan Senate race described as "neck and neck" against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, with control of Congress at stake in the midterm elections. The remarks about physical appearances follow what The Guardian notes as criticism of Trump's language style being compared to "grotesquerie," including Obama's recent joke about Trump's White House renovation aesthetic. Trump also used the rally to discuss trade policy, claiming the US-Canada trade war would be settled soon.

What's disputed

Trump characterizes his comments about Husted as contextual athletic evaluation related to discovering Husted was a college athlete, whereas the sourced reporting frames them primarily as comments about physical appearance.