Senator Marco Rubio accused Vanity Fair of manipulating photos and quoting subjects out of context in a two-part exposé based on a year of interviews with Susie Wiles and other Trump associates. The article includes an anecdote in which J.D. Vance joked about paying a photographer to make others look worse, including Rubio. The White House and Wiles condemned the piece as “disingenuous,” while Vanity Fair reporter Chris Whipple defended his work, saying all comments were on the record and on tape.
Rubio Accuses Vanity Fair Of Manipulating Photos And Quotes In White House Tell-All
Christopher Anderson/Vanity Fair
Senator Marco Rubio accused Vanity Fair on X of deliberately manipulating a magazine exposé to make members of Donald Trump’s White House team "look bad." The two-part Vanity Fair feature, reported by Chris Whipple, was published after a year of interviews with Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other figures close to the former president.
One striking anecdote in the piece recounts J.D. Vance, while posing for a portrait by photographer Christopher Anderson, telling the photographer:
A two-page spread shows the administration officials looking stoic in stark black-and-white. / Christopher Anderson/Vanity Fair
“I’ll give you $100 for every person you make look really s--tty compared to me. And $1,000 if it’s Marco.”
After excerpts circulated online, Rubio pushed back, alleging both photo manipulation and out-of-context reporting. "It is obvious to most people that Vanity Fair deliberately manipulated pictures and reported statements without context to try and make the WH team look bad," he wrote on X, without referencing Vance’s remark.
Defenses From The White House And Reporter
Rubio also publicly defended Susie Wiles. The Vanity Fair story quoted Wiles as saying Elon Musk was “an avowed ketamine [user],” that Attorney General Pam Bondi had “completely whiffed” on her handling of the Epstein files, and that Trump was “wrong” to claim former President Bill Clinton had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island 28 times. "There is nobody more loyal or committed to President Trump’s mission than Susie Wiles," Rubio wrote.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives ahead a meeting with Paraguay's Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano at the State Department in Washington, DC on December 15, 2025. / JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the article an example of “disingenuous reporting,” arguing Whipple had taken Wiles’ remarks “wildly out of context” and that the piece reflected a “bias of omissions.” Wiles herself posted on X that the article was a “disingenuously framed hit piece” that ignored "significant context" and manufactured “an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative” about the administration.
Chris Whipple, speaking with Joanna Coles on The Daily Beast Podcast, defended his reporting and said the White House had not disputed any factual assertions in the piece. "It’s interesting that the White House has not disputed a single fact in the piece because we’re on absolutely solid ground," he said, noting that all of Wiles’ comments were "on the record and on tape." The Daily Beast reported that it contacted Vanity Fair for comment about Rubio’s allegations.
Reaction From Commentators
Conservative commentator Scott Jennings, appearing on CNN’s NewsNight, echoed concerns about the magazine’s photography. Jennings said the most striking problem for him was the images, alleging that Vanity Fair had zoomed and edited photos to make staffers, including Leavitt and Wiles, look worse. He said he had no issue with the interviews themselves but found the “photo thing” “pretty egregious.”
The episode has prompted a debate about journalistic methods and editorial judgment: Vanity Fair stands by its reporting, while multiple figures in and around the White House have criticized the piece for framing, omissions, and presentation.
