USA Today published an op-ed on Tuesday that criticized “haters” for being harshly begrudging first lady Melania Trump.
Columnist Ingrid Jacques wrote in the op-ed that despite Melania being “beautiful and elegant,” many opponents of President Donald Trump have extended their “Trump Derangement Syndrome” onto the first lady. The op-ed came after Vanity Fair staffers erupted at just the idea of putting the first lady on the cover of the magazine.
“Melania Trump is beautiful and elegant,” the op-ed read. “And she made a name for herself as a model before she became famous when she married Donald Trump in 2005. If any first lady were cover girl material, you’d think she’d top the list. No such luck. Trump Derangement Syndrome encompasses her, too, even though she’s purposefully kept a lower profile than some former first ladies.”
Wow, even @USATODAY is publishing nice things about @FLOTUS @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/jIWJG5u1u8
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) September 4, 2025
Vanity Fair staffers threatened to “walk out the motherf*cking door” and quit if Global editorial director Mark Guiducci had gone through with his idea to put Melania on the cover. One editor at the magazine said he refused to “normalize” Trump, who he referred to as a “despot,” and his wife.
“I will walk out the motherfucking door, and half my staff will follow me,” the editor said. “We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right.”
The first lady reportedly rejected an offer to be on the cover immediately because she has no time to do a sit-down interview with a fashion magazine, according to Page Six.
Jacques’ op-ed called out the media’s “double standard” of repeatedly placing the wives of Democratic presidents on the cover of their magazines and criticized “immigrant-loving Democrats” for showing such resentment toward the Slovenian-born first lady.
“The Vanity Fair staff may not want to admit it, but half the country loves Melania Trump. If Jill and Michelle could be cover girls, so should Melania,” the op-ed continued.
Neither Vanity Fair nor Condé Nast’s Vogue ever featured Melania on the cover during her husband’s first term, even as former first lady Michelle Obama appeared on the cover three times as first lady.
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