The trend has been described as a status symbol among Donald Trump's inner circle, signaling wealth, privilege, and alignment with Trumpism.[4][1][5] Commentators and surgeons have characterized the look as engineered, "overdone", sometimes "tacky", and have linked it to the aesthetics and performative aspects of Trump-era politics.[6][2][7] One cosmetic surgeon listed facial surgery, fillers, and cosmetic dental work among the procedures constituting the look.[8] Notable public figures described as having the Mar-a-Lago face include Melania Trump,[2]Matt Gaetz,[9]Kimberly Guilfoyle,[1]Kristi Noem,[2] and Lara Trump.[7]
Description
The Week called the "look" a "must-have accessory" for the inner circle of President Donald Trump.[4] Mar-a-Lago face is named for Trump's home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.[2] Matthew J. Nykiel, a board-certified surgeon, stated the appearance is modeled after Ivanka Trump's appearance.[8] Melinda Anna Farina, an aesthetic consultant, identified the Mar-a-Lago face as attempting to emulate the appearance of Eastern European women.[2]
Board-certified surgeon Jeffrey Lisiecki characterized the Mar-a-Lago face as "overfilled cheeks that are high and firm, full lips and very taut, smooth skin".[8] Writing for The Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi commented that when the appearance is applied to men, instead of larger lips, the jawline is enlarged.[10] Mark Epstein, a New York City plastic surgeon, observed an increase in requests in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.[11]
California surgeon Matthew Nykiel estimated the 2025 cost in U.S. dollars to be approximately $90,000 along with upkeep costs of $2,500 per year.[8]
Analysis
Julian Sancton wrote in The Hollywood Reporter that Mar-a-Lago face had begun to go viral early in 2024.[7] Ani Wilcenski wrote in The Spectator that Mar-a-Lago face represents the "broader Trumpian artifice" and the "national id" of the USA.[3] Jacqueline Whitmore, an etiquette expert and professional image consultant, called Mar-a-Lago face as "curated as a Palm Beach tablescape", and said that the look signals wealth and privilege.[8] Sancton described Mar-a-Lago face in The Hollywood Reporter as resembling "Fellini-esque exaggerations of the dolled-up Fox News anchorwoman look".[7]
Writing for Mother Jones, Inae Oh called Mar-a-Lago face "gender-affirming care the right can celebrate".[9] Eva Wiseman in the Otago Daily Times also associated Mar-a-Lago face with gender-affirming care and drag.[12] Joan Callarissa, a fashion-and-celebrity journalist, identified Mar-a-Lago face as an extension of Trump's "counter-revolutionary" movement, saying, "If they have a face they don’t like, they change it without caring if it looks natural or not, because reality does not matter to Trumpism."[5]
The German magazine Docma quoted surgeon Anthony Youn, who characterized the look as "overdone" and "plastic".[6] Christoph Künne wrote in Docma that Mar-a-Lago face is not "total disfigurement".[6] The Mar-a-Lago face phenomenon was described in The Week as "the leader and followers compet[ing] to inject as much unsightliness as possible into the American field of vision".[4] Joan López Alegre, a professor at Abat Oliba CEU University, noted that Trump's aesthetics were seen as "tacky" in New York City, but are more accepted in Florida, and that this extended toward Mar-a-Lago face.[2]
Barnard professor Anne Higonnet called it "a sign of physical submission to Donald Trump".[13] Surgeon and conservative activist Sheila Nazarian described the term "Mar-a-Lago face" as an attack on conservative women.[14] Santiago Martinez Magdalena of the University of Navarra linked Mar-a-Lago face to "aesthetic eugenics", and associated it with "the Caucasian model as a hygienic and normative horizon, the choice of working models and the exposure of the body as the focal point".[5] Inae Oh wrote that Mar-a-Lago face "seems intended to signal membership with Trump" and "force strict gender norms" with a Trumpian "ridiculously blunt" approach.[4][9]
Lopez Alegre analyzed the phenomenon as reflecting Trump's changing base: "The Trump voter is no longer a conservative voter like the Bush voter, but a lower middle-class voter. It is not clear to me whether they want to be more like Romeo Santos or Barbie's Ken".[2] Writing in Der Tagesspiegel, Ronja Merkel compared the bodies and physical appearance of the present Trump cabinet and members to the Trumpist version of America First ideology: that those who fail to meet even the artificial image of America are unwelcome.[15] Merkel framed the surgically altered appearances of Trump insiders as "rules, control, and the restoration of a 'natural' hierarchy".[15]
People described as having Mar-a-Lago face
Matt Gaetz is a notable male example of having Mar-a-Lago face.
A number of individuals have been identified as or described as having Mar-a-Lago face. They include:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Davis Smith, Jamie (June 2, 2025). "Plastic Surgeons Reveal How Much It Costs To Get A 'Mar-A-Lago Face'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. According to Dr. Matthew J. Nykiel, a board-certified plastic surgeon at SoCal Plastic Surgeons, Mar-a-Lago Face "refers to a recognizable combination of facial features and plastic surgery enhancements, often modeled after Ivanka Trump's signature look."
↑ Abbate, Grazia (May 29, 2025). "The "Mar-a-Lago Face": Ivanka Trump Becomes the New Ideal of Beauty". La Voce di New York. Archived from the original on May 30, 2025. The new aesthetic ideal in the Palm Beach of Trump loyalists no longer comes from Hollywood, but from Mar-a-Lago: according to two well-known plastic surgeons, more and more clients–mostly women, but also men–are asking to look like Ivanka Trump.
↑ Wiseman, Eva (May 17, 2025). "Made-up to look like women". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2025. If it was, it would surely not require all this — the injectables, the lipstick, the dye, or indeed the surgery, which some might call gender-affirming care. It's drag, with all the campery and inauthenticity that implies.
1 2 Merkel, Ronja (August 22, 2025). "Das Botox-Kabinett von Donald Trump: Darum sehen Amerikas neue Rechte alle gleich aus". Der Tagesspiegel. Archived from the original on August 22, 2025. Die Ideologie dahinter ist klar: Trumps Regierung setzt auf Grenzschließungen, Massenabschiebungen, die Kriminalisierung von Migration und ein Verbot geschlechtsangleichender Maßnahmen für Minderjährige. In mehreren Bundesstaaten wurden Abtreibungsrechte massiv eingeschränkt, trans Personen aus dem Militär ausgeschlossen und Antidiskriminierungsgesetze zurückgedreht. Die Körper im Kabinett sind das visuelle Versprechen dahinter: America(ns) First – alle anderen müssen draußen bleiben. ... In autoritären Systemen ist der perfekte Körper nie nur Oberfläche. Er steht für Regeln, für Kontrolle, für die Wiederherstellung einer "natürlichen" Hierarchie.
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