Upon being greeted by Kate Middleton and Prince William during his unprecedented second state visit, President Donald Trump made a comment about Kate’s appearance. While people were definitely not surprised that Trump said something about Kate’s looks right off the bat, they still found it pretty disappointing. The Prince and Princess of Wales greeted Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
When 79-year-old Trump shook Kate’s hand, he immediately complimented her: “You’re beautiful, so beautiful,” he said, per People.
Nonetheless, people found it ‘weird.’
Given that the comment came from Trump, people weren’t all that surprised by it. Still, reacting to the comment on Reddit, several people called the president a “creep” and implied that he seems to have no filter. “He really can’t control himself …” one person wrote. But others pointed out that these kinds of comments aren’t even unique to Trump. “Of course he did,” someone else commented. “I’ve noticed old conservative men do this constantly to women. Always gotta be something about our looks.”
Though the comment wasn’t particularly shocking (one person described it as the “least surprising news today”), people found it embarrassing. “What a pig,” a third critic wrote. “So embarrassing to our nation.”
In Trump’s defense, it’s not the worst thing he could’ve said.
Not everyone was bothered by the way Trump focused on Princess Catherine’s appearance. After all, they’ve definitely heard worse from him before. “We have much bigger things to worry about,” one person commented, shrugging off Trump’s compliment. Another person agreed that “it’s entirely appropriate to compliment her looks given her position.”
Others disagreed with this take. “He could have said, ‘It’s so nice to see you again’ or something that had nothing to do with her looks,” someone argued. “He could have asked about her kids or charity or health. There are a million different things to talk to women, even queens and princesses, about that are not their looks.”
To be fair, Trump has also talked about how ‘handsome’ Prince William is.
After meeting Prince William in Paris in 2024, Trump also focused on how good William looked. “He’s a good looking guy. He looked really, very handsome last night,” Trump told the New York Post at the time. “Some people look better in person? He looked great. He looked really nice, and I told him that.” He also added that they had “a great talk” at the time.
Trump received a warm welcome from the royal family, but was also greeted by protesters.
On Tuesday, September 16, protesters projected images of Trump and convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein on Windsor Castle. A group called Everyone Hates Elon also displayed a banner that showed Trump and Epstein together. Thousands of protesters also marched through London on Wednesday in response to Trump’s visit. In spite of the backlash, Trump has said he has a “very good” relationship with the United Kingdom and referred to King Charles as his “friend,” per BBC.
