Donald Trump told a Fox News host she is getting ‘better looking’ with age when she asked him if Iranians are starving because of the war.
Mr Trump joked with Dana Perino that his comments on her looks ‘will end my political career’ because ‘you are not allowed to say a woman is beautiful anymore’.
She grinned and said the station’s hair and make-up team deserve the credit during a wide-ranging and at times bizarre interview with the US President last night.
Mr Trump had called in to Fox News’ The Five Show and Ms Perino asked him if he knew whether Iran’s population were starving.
While admonishing the Iranian regime for their treatment of their own people, the married former White House press secretary to George W. Bush, asked Trump: ‘Do you have any insight as to how they are doing? Do they have drinking water? Do they have food? It’s upsetting’.
The President replied: ‘I do’, before appearing to flirt with Ms Perino.
He said: ‘But first. Remember when we had lunch years ago in the base of Trump Tower when it was a brand new building?
‘You haven’t changed. I’m not allowed to say this. It’s the end of my political career, but you may be even better looking, okay? So, I don’t know what you’re doing’.
A smiling Ms Perino, 53, replied: “Fox hair and makeup has a lot to do with it.”
Mr Trump went on: ‘I will not say that because that will end my political career. You are not allowed to say a woman is beautiful anymore’.
He then said to Dana Perino’s co-host Jesse Watters: ‘You know that, Jesse. You have to be careful’.
In the same interview he admitted that the CIA had told him the new Ayatollah of Iran may be gay.
Mr Trump said: ‘They did say that. I think a lot of people are saying that – which puts him off to a bad start in that particular country’.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency has said that it believes 1,492 Iranians have been killed since the war began.
Mr Trump has a history of flirty comments – and barbs – when dealing with female reporters.
He called the New York Times’ Katie Rogers ‘ugly’ and tried to shush Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey when she asked about the Epstein Files by telling her: ‘Quiet, piggy’.
It came as Donald Trump last night said he will hold off on bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure until at least early April after extending the deadline for Tehran to negotiate a deal by ten days.
The President said he acted at the behest of Iranian leadership, posting the announcement on social media Thursday afternoon.
‘As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,’ Trump said.
‘Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.’
Trump first announced a five-day pause on US strikes targeting Iran’s energy sector early Monday, and has since submitted a 15-point peace plan to the regime.
Tehran rejected the terms and vowed to continue fighting, sending oil prices rocketing after they had plunged at the start of the week.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that exchanges between the two countries through mediators do not mean ‘negotiations with the US.’
International benchmark Brent crude rose 5.7 percent Thursday to $108 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 4.6 percent to $95 per barrel.
Extending the temporary ceasefire on Iran’s energy production allows the US and Iran to continue negotiations to end the war, now in its fourth week.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed Thursday that talks conducted alongside Jared Kushner and their Iranian counterparts had been fruitful.
‘I can report to you today that we have, along with your foreign-policy team, presented a 15-point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal,’ he said at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.
‘This has been circulated through the Pakistani government, acting as the mediator,’ he continued. ‘This has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks.’
The Iranian regime has ratcheted up pressure on Washington even as talks progress, publicly confirming its continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
The relentless US-Israeli strikes have persuaded the regime it has nothing to gain by holding back from building a bomb, sources told Reuters.
State television aired a segment earlier this month in which conservative commentator Nasser Torabi said the Iranian public demanded action: ‘We need to act in order to build a nuclear weapon. Either we build it or we acquire it.’
Iran’s state media claimed Thursday that more than a million troops have been mobilized in preparation for a potential US ground invasion to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The threats from Tehran come as the US military is reportedly planning a ‘final blow’ to take out the remnants of the Islamic regime, a threat that could include US ground troops in Iran in combination with a devastating bombardment.
‘Trump has a hand open for a deal, and the other is a fist, waiting to punch you in the f***ing face,’ a Trump aide told Axios.
The President has told members of his inner circle he is prepared to pull the trigger on a full-scale invasion if Tehran continues to rebuff his diplomatic overtures.
Pentagon chiefs ordered around 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East this week to join some 4,500 Marines already en route to the region.
