Trump Deflects Question on Air Force One by Mentioning Turbulence: ‘I’m Looking for Something to Grab, and It’s Not Going to Be Karoline’ 

President Donald Trump used a bout of turbulence to steer away from a question while traveling back to the White House after a weekend at Mar-a-Lago.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Jan. 11, Trump, 79, was asked about his plans for Venezuela and whether he would meet this week with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, 58.

Machado recently told Fox News she would be interested in giving her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump. That prompted the Nobel Committee to issue a rare statement on Jan. 9 saying the honor cannot be transferred.

When asked about Machado, Trump glanced toward the curtain behind him and said, “I’m looking for something to grab here … it’s going to get rough.”

“I think you did this to me. You’ve put me in a position where there’s absolutely nothing to grab,” he told the press pool.

“I’m looking for something to grab and it’s not going to be Karoline,” he added, referring to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, who was standing behind him.

Trump had flagged possible turbulence before taking questions. “It’s going to be very rough in about 10 minutes, so we’ll have to go a little bit quickly,” he said. “They just said, very, very rough.”

The moment echoed an earlier episode from Oct. 30, when Trump was seen bracing himself during turbulence while returning from a five-day tour of Asia. He joked then that the shaky conditions made it difficult to handle questions from the press.

“These are tough conditions for interviews,” he said at the time. “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.”

“The interviews are tough enough without your life being threatened,” he later added.

Trump’s aside about Leavitt also followed another headline-making moment from Oct. 13, when he abruptly shifted attention to his press secretary while responding to a question about international diplomacy as he departed Israel.

“How’s Karoline doing? Is she doing good?” Trump asked reporters. “Should Karoline be replaced?”

When members of the group voiced support, Trump said replacing her would “never happen.” As another question began, he continued with a remark about her appearance and how she speaks.

Leavitt previously served as Trump’s national press secretary during his 2024 presidential campaign and later became White House press secretary when Trump began his second term in January 2025.

In December, Leavitt announced she is expecting her second baby with husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, making her the first pregnant woman to serve in the role.