In the final weeks of the midterm campaign, Trump has repeatedly praised male Republican candidates' bodies from the rally stage, the New York Times reported. At an October 12 rally in Youngstown, Ohio, he said of Sen. Jon Husted, “I looked at his ass,” and of his hands, “He's got these, like, claws.” In Highland Heights, Kentucky, on October 17 he returned to it: “I examined his ass. I never did that with, no, I never did that with a man before,” and claimed Husted had “picked up like nine or 10 points since I talked about that,” a claim for which there is no evidence. In Dalton, Georgia, on October 16 he said, “Mike Collins is a good-looking man. And he's all man,” adding, “I'm not sure about Ossoff.” Husted joked about the remarks at an Ohio event, the Washington Times reported.
Update (October 27, 2026): Trump told the story again at a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on October 25, and this time turned to a guest. After repeating that he had looked at Husted's ass (“I've never done that with a man before, it's true”), he said, “Off the record, women, yes, men, no, okay? By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before, Nicki Minaj. That, that's hard to miss,” according to the Roll Call Factbase transcript. Minaj, who had flown with him on Air Force One, spoke at the rally.
Communications director Steven Cheung posted a video of her mock press briefing aboard the plane with the comment, “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House press secretary! @NICKIMINAJ,” The Hollywood Reporter reported; the press secretary job had recently reopened. The White House did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment on why Trump has been discussing others' bodies.