Melania Trump ‘Doesn’t Have Time’ to Do a Vanity Fair Cover

Will Melania Trump appear on the cover of Vanity Fair? The question has been the source of much media gossip this week, after Semafor reported that the magazine’s new global editorial director, Mark Guiducci, “told people he’s potentially interested” in putting the First Lady on the cover as part of a broader effort to woo conservative readers.

Within hours, the Daily Mail reported that Vanity Fair staffers were threatening to revolt if Giuducci followed through with the idea:

“I will walk out the motherf – – – – – – door, and half my staff will follow me,” a mid–level editor told the Daily Mail on Monday, hours after Semafor reported the magazine’s new global editorial director Mark Guiducci was trying to woo Melania to star on his cover.

“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 staffer continued.

“If I have to work bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s, I’ll do it. If [Guiducci] puts Melania on the cover, half of the editorial staff will walk out, I guarantee it.”

“It sickens me,” the staffer added. “Even the idea of it.”

The prospect of unrest at the publication made MAGA world salivate. Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt promised to “buy several [copies] if they would do this, just to prove a point.” And several Trump influencers, including Charlie Kirk and Laura Ingraham, were apparently duped by an obviously fake mock-up of a Melania Vanity Fair cover:

But it seems no one is going to have to have a meltdown or start a new career at Trader Joe’s. It turns out Melania — who is often not seen in public for weeks at a time — is simply too busy to sit for a magazine photo shoot. “Page Six” reported that the First Lady has absolutely no interest in a Vanity Fair cover:

A fashion source familiar with the First Lady’s thinking says she “laughed” at the Vanity Fair request in July and rejected it immediately.

“She doesn’t have time to be sitting in a photo shoot. Her priorities as First Lady are far more important … These people don’t deserve her anyway.”

The First Lady hasn’t said much about what’s on her agenda right now, but she did release a one-minute video this week announcing the Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge. The final judging will take place in June 2026, and it’s unclear if Melania will be personally involved, but perhaps she needs the next nine months to prepare.