Criticism of Melania Trump by USA Today
On Tuesday, USA Today highlighted an operation that aimed criticism at First Lady Melania Trump for her significant “dislike.” The op-ed, penned by columnist Ingrid Jacques, discusses how, despite her being described as “beautiful and elegant,” many who oppose President Donald Trump have seemingly transferred their disdain to her, a phenomenon referred to as “Trump Mad Syndrome.” This commentary followed an incident at Vanity Fair, where staff reacted strongly to the mere suggestion of featuring Melania on the magazine’s cover.
Jacques’ piece notes, “Melania Trump is beautiful and elegant,” and explains how she gained recognition as a model before marrying Donald Trump in 2005. She poses the question: if Melania were considered cover material, wouldn’t she be at the top of the list? Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet.
🚨🚨 Amazing, even @usatoday We’re revealing great things @flotus @dailycaller pic.twitter.com/jiwjg5u1u8
– Nicole Silver (@nicolemsilverio) September 4, 2025
Vanity Fair staff threatened to resign if Global Editor-in-Chief Mark Guiducci pursued the idea of putting Melania on the cover. One editor expressed strong opposition, claiming he wouldn’t “normalize” both Trump and his wife.
“I walked out the motherfucking door and half of my staff followed me,” he said. “We are not going to normalize this tyranny and his wife. We are not going to do that. We are going to support the right thing.”
Reportedly, Melania declined the idea of featuring on the cover at that time, indicating she couldn’t commit to an interview with a fashion magazine.
Jacques’ op-ed argued there’s a “double standard” in how the media treats the wives of Democrats, pointing out how easily they feature them on magazine covers while criticizing “immigrant-loving Democrats” for their perceived bias against Melania, who was born in Slovenia.
“The Vanity Fair staff may not want to admit that, but half of the country loves Melania Trump. If Jill and Michelle can be featured, then Melania should be too,” Jacques concluded.
Interestingly, although former First Lady Michelle Obama graced the magazine cover three times while in office, Melania never appeared on the cover of either Vanity Fair or Vogue during her husband’s presidency.
