Yesterday Donald Trump hosted an event in the Oval Office to announce the automatic enrollment of around 70 million American children into so-called “Trump accounts.” These are intended as low-cost investment accounts for kids, and children born in the last three years are eligible for a $1000 seed contribution.
As far as Trump administration policies go, at least on the surface, this seems like a fairly benign one. In attendance were Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, IRS CEO Frank Bisignano, Ted Cruz, Dell CEO Michael Dell, and his wife Susan (who also spoke).
Also there were a group of children and some family members. The kids were paraded in front of the Resolute Desk, with some handed a banner to hold reading “Thank You for Trump Accounts.” As this happened, Trump complimented the children, thanking them and telling one girl, “You’re so good-looking.”
“I can hear my skin crawling.”
This comment was seized upon as a strange thing for an 80-year-old man to make about children. One said, “Ew. What is wrong with him,” another, “hes looking at those kids like theyre gonna fund his next campaign,” and, “I can hear my skin crawling.”
For most politicians, a comment like this might be considered a odd but ignorable. Trump, on the other hand, has a long history of making questionable comments about women and girls. For example, in 2006 he described his daughter Ivanka as a “real piece of ass” and famously noted, “She does have a very nice figure… If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
Former Miss Teen USA contestants have also reported similar comments from Trump. Mariah Billado (Miss Vermont Teen USA 1997) said (via Buzzfeed News) that Trump walked into the Teen USA changing rooms: “I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s a man in here'”, and said Trump said something like, “Don’t worry, ladies, I’ve seen it all before.”
The outlet reported that two other women, who asked to remain anonymous, backed that up. Two of them said the teen girls rushed to cover their bodies when they realized Trump had entered the room, with one dubbing it “shocking” and “creepy.”
This tallies with what Trump has said about his own behavior, albeit when referring to the Miss Universe contest. As he told Howard Stern: “I’ll tell you the funniest is that I’ll go backstage before a show and everyone’s getting dressed. No men are anywhere, and I’m allowed to go in, because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it. … ‘Is everyone OK?’ You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody OK?’ And you see these incredible looking women, and so I sort of get away with things like that.”
Some would argue yesterday’s comment is merely Trump being his usual unfiltered self, though it’s safe to say this likely innocent statement has not been received in the grandfatherly way it may have been intended.
Published: Oct 8, 2026 09:05 am