The new D.C. status symbol isn’t a Cabinet position—it’s a fresh syringe of filler, according to plastic surgeons in Washington.
Aesthetic experts in the capital say they’re seeing a wave of Trump-world figures seeking cosmetic work to match what one doctor calls the “Mar-a-Lago face,” according to Axios.
Since Trump’s return to the White House in January, requests for obvious aesthetic tweaks—plump lips, taut foreheads, and “done” cheeks—have surged among his allies and appointees.
“Washington is typically an understated town when it comes to plastic surgery. People want to look good but not like they’ve had something done,” said D.C. plastic surgeon Troy Pittman, who counts several Trump insiders among his clients. “Now we’re seeing people who want to look like they had something done.”
While the pre-Trump crowd preferred quiet “maintenance” work, Pittman says the new aesthetic is pure Palm Beach—flashier, more sculpted, and decidedly less subtle. MAGA-tied patients, he added, are openly discussing their procedures and swapping doctor recommendations “like they’re comparing golf scores.”
The most popular treatments are fillers and injectables, especially for lips, along with Botox and Dysport, Pittman told Axios.
Not everyone’s here for it. Plastic surgeon Anita Kulkarni says she’s had to turn away a surge of new political clients asking for “a more done look, like that Mar-a-Lago face.” The requests didn’t fit with her practice’s understated aesthetic—and, in some cases, went too far.
“These were people already treated who wanted even more fillers,” Kulkarni said. “It’s dangerous. You can lose sight of anatomic normalcy.”
She calls the phenomenon “filler blindness”—a kind of aesthetic groupthink that leaves patients unable to recognize when their faces no longer look human.
Kulkarni said she never saw such a dramatic shift during Trump’s first term, when “more establishment Republicans” filled the ranks. The new wave, she noted, comes largely from South Florida.
Surgeon Navin Singh agreed, telling Axios that his male patients skew heavily Republican—and hail from states like Texas and Florida, where cosmetic procedures are common.
And it’s not just the women chasing the Mar-a-Lago aesthetic. Pittman says men in Trump’s orbit are booking procedures to appear “younger” and “more virile,” echoing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent focus on military fitness and masculine optics.
On the menu: Botox, liposuction, and eyelid rejuvenation—all in pursuit of that signature Mar-a-Lago glow.
