A Trump administration official knew that Vanity Fair’s bombshell profile was unlikely to land well the moment the magazine’s photographer assembled the top brass for the glossy cover shoot.
“We’re all going to get fired for this,” said one of the officials in the group, which included Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chiefs of Staff James Blair and Dan Scavino, and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller.
“Except for me,” replied Vice President JD Vance. “I have 100 percent job security.”
The formal photo, taken by Vanity Fair photographer Christopher Anderson, shows Leavitt, Vance, Rubio, Wiles, Blair, Scavino, and Miller, posed stoically around a table in the Roosevelt Room.
In a piece on how Vanity Fair’s cover photo came together, Global Editorial Director Mark Guiducci detailed how Vance, 41, fired off nervous jokes and insults at the publication and his fellow administration officials throughout the proceedings.
“Is this the part where you say we’re all evil?” he grilled the publication as the officials posed together.
Earlier in the shoot, he joked, “I’ll give you $100 for every person you make look really s---ty compared to me. And $1,000 if it’s Marco.”
The administration’s apparent misgivings about Vanity Fair’s profile proved to be well-founded.
While Vance, Leavitt, Rubio, Blair and Miller made it through the profile without sparking much controversy, Wiles gave shockingly candid interviews about the chaos within the administration.
Wiles, whom Rubio said has an “earned trust” with Trump, said the president has “an alcoholic’s personality," called Vance a “conspiracy theorist,” accused former DOGE head Elon Musk of being an “avowed ketamine [user],” and called Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought a “right-wing zealot.”
Wiles, 68, immediately attempted to distance herself from the piece, saying, “The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.”
“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story. I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team,” she added.
Leavitt stood behind Wiles, saying to the Daily Beast, “President Trump has no greater or more loyal adviser than Susie. The entire administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.”
The piece suddenly made Wiles the center of rumors that she’s on her way out of the White House. Such speculation has also dogged FBI Director Kash Patel, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
