Let’s start here: imagine you marry the guy who becomes President of the United States. You move into the White House. You’re tall, glamorous, multilingual, and were literally a professional model. That’s your résumé. And then—poof!—you vanish. Not because you’re hiding in a safehouse with Edward Snowden, but because Vogue and Vanity Fair collectively decided, “Yeah, she doesn’t exist.”

That’s what happened to Melania Trump. In 2018, in 2020, in 2023—you couldn’t walk through an airport bookstore without seeing Michelle Obama’s face smiling at you like Big Brother in a ballgown. Michelle was everywhere—Vogue, Time, Glamour, heck, probably Cat Fancy. Meanwhile, Melania, the actual First Lady, could have walked into the Vogue offices in full Dolce & Gabbana and they’d have called security.

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