Recently, Donald Trump used turbulence on Air Force One to dodge a tough question from reporters.
He was returning to the White House after a weekend at Mar-a-Lago when the press asked if he planned to meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado this week. Machado had said she wanted to give Trump her Nobel Peace Prize, but the Nobel Committee quickly clarified that the award cannot be transferred.
Trump didn’t answer the question. He looked around the cabin for something to hold on to and warned that the flight would get bumpy, joking that it would be “very, very rough.”
Then he turned to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and added with a grin, “I’m looking for something to grab and it’s not going to be Karoline.”
Trump: I think you did this to me. You put me in a position where there is nothing to grab. I’m looking for something to grab and it’s not going to be Karoline. pic.twitter.com/hI7IQjmS62
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 12, 2026
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The comment left reporters blinking. Trump had just sidestepped a serious foreign policy question by talking about turbulence and grip handles.
Before takeoff, Trump had already set the tone by warning the press that the plane would be shaky. “It’s going to be very rough in about 10 minutes, so we’ll have to go a little bit quickly. They just said, very, very rough,” he told them.
Trump has turned rough air into an odd distraction more than once. On a previous flight back from Asia in October, he told reporters that turbulence made interviews difficult. “These are tough conditions for interviews,” he said. “They’re gonna be watching Trump, they’re gonna say, ‘He didn’t look too good. He’s got the shakes.’ I don’t have the shakes, but people are going to think I do.” He added, “The interviews are tough enough without your life being threatened.”
Karoline Leavitt stood calmly behind him throughout. She has become something of a constant presence beside Trump during press Q&As. At just 28 years old, she is the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history.
Trump has made no secret of his praise for her. In August, he told the conservative network Newsmax, “She’s a star, and she’s great. I don’t think anybody has ever had a better press secretary than Karoline. She’s been amazing.”
In October, he again brought her into a press exchange, asking, “How’s Karoline doing? Is she doing good? Should Karoline be replaced?” When reporters said no, Trump responded, “That will never happen.”
Leavitt first worked as Trump’s national press secretary during his 2024 campaign. When Trump began his second term in January 2025, she stepped into the White House role.
In December, she surprised many when she announced she is expecting her second baby with husband Nicholas Riccio, 60. That milestone made her the first pregnant woman to serve as White House press secretary.
Featured image via X screengrab
