AI-made Melania Trump Vanity Fair cover is fake, sparking AI labeling

A digitally fabricated Vanity Fair cover image depicting First Lady Melania Trump wearing a crown and labeled "The American Queen" circulated widely on social media this week, prompting both celebration and ridicule before fact-checkers concluded the image was not an authentic magazine cover. The doctored art, generated with artificial intelligence and posted by a YouTube-based outlet, reignited a separate controversy over whether the first lady had ever been asked to pose for the magazine and whether Vanity Fair staff would have accepted her.

The image was shared online with claims it was a leaked September cover and included mock headlines such as "Melania Trump's Silent Revolution." The post came from an account known for sensational material, which also falsely suggested the image had been shot by a prominent photographer. Within hours conservative commentators praised the image, while others treated it as satire. California's governor responded by circulating his own tongue-in-cheek AI magazine cover, mimicking the format to mock the episode.

A person close to the first lady told a gossip column that Melania had dismissed an approach from Vanity Fair months ago, laughing at...