Melania Trump has fired back at a Vanity Fair report claiming she never wanted to be first lady — telling CNN on Monday the magazine's reporting is wrong and "shameful."
Writing about the president's wife, Vanity Fair staffer Sarah Ellison says: "There may never have been a first lady less prepared for or suited to the role."
Ellison then quotes a "longtime friend of the Trumps" as telling her, "This isn't something she wanted and it isn't something he ever thought he'd win … She didn't want this come hell or high water. I don't think she thought it was going to happen."
In a blistering denial of the report, a spokeswoman for Melania told CNN reporter Kate Bennett in a statement:
"Once again part of the liberal media, this time Vanity Fair, has written a story riddled with unnamed sources and false assertions.
"As a magazine tailored to women, it is shameful that they continue to write salacious and false stories meant to demean Mrs. Trump, rather than focus on her positive work as first lady and a supportive wife and mother. As has been stated on the record many times before, she is honored by her role."
Vanity Fair has had a long and contentious relationship with Donald Trump and its longtime former editor Graydon Carter, who once labeled the Manhattan real estate czar a "short-fingered vulgarian." Trump has called the magazine "failing" and Carter a "sissy."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.