Anna Wintour says she did not seek an ambassadorship from Donald Trump, despite Michael Wolff’s assertion that she did in his tell-all “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which was released four days early on Friday.
A spokesperson for Wintour told TheWrap Friday that the idea is “laughably preposterous.”
“I think it’s pretty clear where Anna stands politically, which makes this laughably preposterous,” the rep said.
Rumors that the Vogue editor wanted an ambassadorship began in 2009, after she fundraised for Barack Obama’s campaign. In 2012, Trump congratulated her, calling her “winner & really smart.”
The New York Times reported in 2013 that Wintour was angling for an ambassadorship to Britain. At the time, a spokesperson for Wintour said she was “happy with her job at Vogue.”
Wolff claims in his book that when Wintour didn’t get an ambassadorship from Obama, she “closely aligned herself with Hillary Clinton,” and when Clinton lost the presidency, she sought the role from Trump, according to The Cut.
“Trump was inclined to entertain the idea,” Wolff said in the book. He then quotes Steve Bannon as saying “fortunately … there was no chemistry.”
Trump has backpedaled on his praise for Wintour in recent months. “Anna Wintour, who was all set to be Amb to Court of St James’s & a big fundraiser for CH, is beside herself in grief & begging for forgiveness!” he tweeted in December.