America doesn’t have a Royal Family, but we do have a proud history of presidential traditions. Everything current presidents say and do is always compared to the rich history of what previous leaders have said and done. That extends to presidential spouses, which is why we can’t help but compare each FLOTUS to the ones before.
If you happen to compare the most recent First Ladies, you’ll notice something quite interesting. While both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden appeared in Vogue after becoming FLOTUS, Melania Trump never did. Was this an intentional snub, or was there some behind-the-scenes drama that might explain everything?
Keep reading to find out!
A very exclusive club
At first glance, you might not think it’s fair for us to compare Melania Trump to Jill Biden and Michelle Obama. After all, these three women all have very different backgrounds and personalities. Put them all in a room together and there may very well be so little in common between them that they’d have anything to talk about.
However, they are linked by one very powerful commonality: each one is a current or former First Lady of the United States. That’s a very exclusive club, especially with how relatively few living First Ladies are still out there. It’s something powerful that these women share, and we can’t help but compare each FLOTUS to one another in a variety of ways.
One of those ways is, of course, appearing in Vogue as FLOTUS. And in this respect, well…one of these women is not like the others.
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Vogue magazine’s proud tradition of featuring the FLOTUS
If you’re wondering why any of this is really important, Vogue has a tradition of featuring the First Lady that goes back nearly a century. Herbert Hoover’s wife Lou Henry Hoover appeared in the May 1929, issue and 13 other First Ladies have followed in her historic footsteps.
Some of the other First Ladies who have graced these pages include some very big names. For example, Jacqueline Kennedy was in Vogue, as was Hillary Clinton. Both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden have been featured in the long-running magazine. Melania Trump, however, was never featured after becoming FLOTUS.
Melania Trump never appeared in Vogue as FLOTUS
As we have noted, Melania Trump never appeared in Vogue as FLOTUS, though she was featured in the magazine once before (more on this later). There are many possible reasons for this, including everything from the magazine disliking Donald Trump’s politics to Melania possibly turning down an invitation to be featured.
However, there are a couple of big ironies related to Melania not appearing in Vogue as FLOTUS. For one thing, she is a former model, one who has graced many magazines over the years. For another thing, one of the magazines she previously graced with her appearance was Vogue itself!
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Melania has graced Vogue’s cover once before
While Melania Trump never appeared in Vogue as First Lady, that doesn’t mean she never appeared in the publication. Back in 2005, she appeared in the magazine while sporting a breathtaking Christian Dior couture wedding gown. The magazine was focusing at the time on her new status as Donald Trump’s latest wife.
Donald Trump brought up her previous appearance when discussing why he thought the magazine didn’t bring her back once she was FLOTUS. As reported by The Wrap, he said, “She’s been on the cover of the magazines for a long time, and she was on the cover of Vogue before. And she was actually very friendly with Anna Wintour.” Ruefulled, though, he added that “once I ran for politics, that was the end of that.”
Did Donald Trump earn Melania a powerful enemy?
Donald Trump remains convinced that Vogue snubbed his wife because the magazine’s editorial powers disapproved of his politics. Judging from previous comments by editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, that may very well be the case.
Back in 2019, she explained the criteria for choosing who does and does not appear in the magazine. As she told CNN, “Obviously these are women that we feel are icons and inspiring to women from a global perspective.” She then said, “I also feel even more strongly now that this is a time to try and — I think that one has to be fair, one has to look at all sides — but I don’t think it’s a moment not to take a stand.”
That certainly sounds like the magazine was “making a stand” by keeping Melania far away while she was in the White House.
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Melania Trump may have actually refused to appear in Vogue
So far, all of this sounds like the usual tale of political polarization…of two different sides both hating the other. However, in an interesting twist, it turns out Melania was offered a spot in Vogue and refused for some very specific reasons.
As Newsweek reports, Melania’s former aide Stephanie Winston Wilkoff secretly recorded the FLOTUS talking about this matter in 2018. “Vogue said like, oh, we want to do a profile. Profile? F*** you, profile. I don’t need no profile … It might be a cover. I’m like, might be a cover? I don’t give a f*** about Vogue and any magazine.”
Wilkoff later claimed that Melania wouldn’t agree to be in the magazine without being guaranteed a spot on the cover. In this way, she might have actually talked herself out of a nearly century-old tradition of Vogue honoring First Ladies.