Trump’s Gift Takes Centre Stage As Vance, Rubio Display New Shoes In Oval Office

US President Donald Trump drew attention to a personal gesture toward two of his top aides during an extended interview with The New York Times, asking Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to display new shoes he had purchased for them.

Trump spent more than two hours speaking with the newspaper’s reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, during which he revisited familiar political themes and adopted what the publication described as a paternal tone toward senior aides present.

According to the report, Trump repeatedly referred to Vance, 41, and Rubio, 54, as “kids.”

Both officials were wearing black dress shoes that Trump had recently bought for them, after expressing dissatisfaction with their earlier footwear.

At one point

during the interview, the two men lifted their feet to show the president the shoes, telling reporters they had been purchased by Trump.

The episode followed comments by Vance at a holiday gathering last month, where he said Trump had paused a meeting to criticise the shoes worn by senior officials and offered to buy replacements.

Vance said the president asked him and Rubio for their shoe sizes and promised to order multiple pairs for each of them.

Photographs taken earlier in the day showed Rubio wearing polished leather shoes while greeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

The exchange offered a glimpse into Trump’s management style and his informal interactions with close aides, during an interview intended to project authority and energy as he addressed questions on his leadership, health and policy priorities.

Trump used the interview to counter questions about his age and health, an issue he said had been unfairly scrutinised by the publication in the past.

Projecting confidence and stamina, he said the presidency now felt easier than during his first term. “I feel physically the same,” Trump said. “I feel the way I did 40 years ago.”

Reflecting on his pre-political career, Trump revisited his background in property development. “I was really good at real estate,” he said, before adding that he may have been better at that than at politics.