WASHINGTON — Vice President J.D. Vance shared an amusing story during a party, recalling a recent moment with President Trump. At a concert he hosted on Friday, Vance recounted how earlier that day, Trump had derailed an “important” meeting in the Oval Office to ask his team about their shoe sizes. Vance proudly noted that he outshone Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Today I’m in the Oval Office with the President,” Vance told the attendees. “We were discussing something really significant, and then the president says, ‘No, hold on. This is way more important.'” He mimicked Trump’s tone and continued, “He looked at the desk and said, ‘Marco, JD, you guys have big shoes to fill. I need to find better shoes.'” Then Trump allegedly went outside to grab a catalog.
Both Vance and Rubio, potential rivals for the 2028 election, were joined by another unnamed politician to spare them embarrassment. When Trump returned, he started inquiring about everyone’s shoe sizes.
“The president handed us four pairs of shoes,” Vance said. “While we were in the middle of a conversation, he actually wanted to know our sizes.” Vance noted that his was 13, Rubio’s was 11.5, and humorously added that the unnamed politician was only 7 years old.
Vance recalled Trump lounging back and saying, “You can learn a lot about a person by their shoe size,” which triggered laughter from the crowd.
Vance expressed that he would always remember this peculiar encounter with Trump. He reminisced about a heated moment between Trump and Rubio during the 2016 GOP primary where Rubio had mocked Trump’s “small hands” and “spray tan.” Trump had angrily insisted then that his hands—and other parts of him—were not small.
During that debate, Trump quipped, “I have to say this, he hit me in the hand. No one has ever hit me in the hand. Look at those hands. Are they small? And if they are small, something else must be small,” implying a different meaning.
At the Christmas gathering, Vance remarked that while his interactions with Trump were often what one might expect from media portrayals, sometimes there are unforgettable moments behind the scenes. “Every once in a while, something happens that sticks with you,” he concluded.
