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Vice President JD Vance is pulling back the curtain back on President Donald Trump’s strict rules for Cabinet members, specifically the traditional dress code.
Speaking on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, Vance explained that Trump’s classic style rules — including a disdain for brown shoes — are rooted in the belief that public officials must honor the institutions they serve.
“The president has a certain sense that you ought to respect the place, you ought to respect the institution, respect the office. And one of the ways you do that is by dressing like a normal person,” Vance said in the episode released Thursday. “And I think that’s — it’s a very old-fashioned thing.”
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance joined family members and others at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2024, in New York City, to honor those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
According to Vance, the president expects his team to always project professionalism, drawing a contrast with the style of many modern-day politicians. He laid out some of the rules, telling Hannity that Trump almost always wears a navy suit, black shoes and a solid tie.
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“Well, I mean, he always has — it’s always a navy suit. It’s almost always a solid tie. It’s always black shoes,” Vance said. “Like, he’ll bust the chops of some of the Cabinet members if they’ve got brown shoes on.”
Earlier this year, Trump confirmed that he sometimes buys his officials new shoes during an interview on “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
“When they tell me they have a problem, I say, ‘Let me get you a pair of shoes,'” Trump told Kilmeade in March.
Vance noted he’s seen the president comment on the attire of other officials and even his own family members, including the “Zelensky moment.” During a meeting in the Oval Office, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was asked by a correspondent why he chose not to wear a suit.
At a follow-up White House meeting in August, Zelenskyy wore more formal attire than his usual military-style clothing. During that exchange, a reporter told Zelenskyy he looked “fabulous in that suit,” before Trump added, “I said the same thing.”
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“That was not a good moment for him,” Vance said of Zelenskyy, referring to the tense exchange between the Ukrainian president and U.S. officials. “And it’s funny because things kind of worked out. I think, you know, we were able to repair that relationship.”
He also recalled a time when Trump commented on his son Don Jr.’s attire at a 9/11 memorial during the 2024 campaign.
President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance attended the inauguration ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)
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“They’re reading out the names. But there’s — at one point, the president turns around and looks at Don Jr. And Don has like, a spread collar on. And the president’s like, ‘Oh, that’s a pretty wide collar there, Don,’” Vance said.
“And you can tell, like, it just was absolutely a dig. So I’ve always — navy suit, black shoes and a conventional collar,” he added.
