Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Melania Trump's Icy New Official Portrait Looks Like It's Straight Out Of 'House Of Cards'

Melania Trump; Robin Wright as Claire Underwood in 'House of Cards'
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Netflix

The First Lady is all business in her new official portrait—and some think she gives off a Claire Underwood vibe from the Netflix political drama House of Cards.

First Lady Melania Trump's new official White House portrait has been unveiled, and to many people online the vibes are very off—specifically in a House of Cards kind of way.

The wildly popular, award-winning Netflix series about Washington machinations took a fairly dim and sinister view of our nation's capital, so it only makes sense that a dim and sinister administration would want to emulate it.


Perhaps it was just an accident, but that certainly seems to be what was on Melania Trump's mind, as for many, her portrait called to mind Claire Underwood, the female lead of House of Cards played by Robin Wright.

@jlgolson/X

Underwood was the cunningly icy wife of the diabolical and power-hungry Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, whose ice-cold, calculating stare became part of the iconic look of the show.

But the portrait also comes with an overwrought flair that is vintage Trump—though the photo was reportedly shot in the Yellow Oval Room in the White House, the First Lady is depicted leaning over a conference table in a power suit like a corporate raider. Subtlety has never been this family's forte.

RELATED: Trump's New Portrait Was Unveiled—And People Think One Side Of His Face Looks Like Biden

As many have noted, the portrait is a stark break from the usual First Lady portrait, including Melania Trump's own in 2017, which typically aims to project warmth and approachability (though the 2017 version certainly dispensed with this far more than her predecessors).

There's not an iota of warmth to be found in this one—it lands somewhere between corporate headshot and fashion mag camp. It's basically oligarchy chic.

But the parallels between it and Claire Underwood aren't just theoretical—there are even images of Wright as Claire Underwood that seem like outright templates for the First Lady's photo.

And on social media, the parallel was practically all anyone could see—especially given the way House of Cards ended.



Melania Trump’s office has released her official portrait - the other is House Of Cards

[image or embed]
— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 6:13 PM



Meet first lady Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) from de series House of Cards. Oh, wait… #Melania

[image or embed]
— Rosalynn 🇳🇱 (@rosa-lynn.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM

Anyway, we hope the Trump-voting public were wishing for a full-scale corporate-style raiding of the country, because it seems pretty clear that's what we're getting.

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Screenshots from Maren Morris's TikTok video
@marenmorris/TikTok

Maren Morris Speaks Out About Impact Gender Stereotypes Have On Kids After 'Heated' Clash With Guy At Party

It may be 2026, but some people still hold very deeply-rooted prejudices about gender roles and gender expectations. Just show a young boy with fingernail polish or a young girl with very short hair, and see the judgment written all over some people's faces.

Though the southern United States and much of the country music genre are still known for perpetuating gender stereotypes, country singer Maren Morris from Nashville is arguing against these stereotypes and is warning parents of the negative impact they have on children.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Pete Hegseth
@atrupar/X

Jesuit Priest Epically Blasts Pete Hegseth's Claim That God Is Providing 'Miraculous Protection' To U.S. Soldiers In Iran War

James Martin, a Jesuit priest and the editor-at-large of America Magazine, criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after Hegseth proclaimed that God is on the side of U.S. troops in President Donald Trump's war in Iran.

Hegseth gave God “all the glory” for America’s military actions in Iran, which this week agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Israel after Trump threatened to destroy all of Iranian civilization in its entirety in remarks legal scholars and observers said constituted threatening war crimes.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance
Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

JD Vance Gets Instant Reminder After Trying To Chastise Zelenskyy For 'Scandalous' Behavior Against 'Heads Of State'

Video from MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance’s remarks at a private school in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday drew immediate backlash.

Vance decided to comment on how world leaders should and shouldn’t behave.

Keep ReadingShow less
Melania Trump
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Melania Just Held A Bizarre Press Conference To Debunk 'False Smears' Related To Jeffrey Epstein—And Everyone Had The Same Response

First Lady Melania Trump had everyone thinking the same thing after she held a bizarre press conference on Thursday to deny that she had anything but casual ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier, pedophile, sexual abuser, and sex trafficker.

Mrs. Trump publicly denied any ties to convicted sex offenders Epstein and his procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, saying claims linking her to Epstein are “lies” meant to damage her reputation. She said she met her husband, President Donald Trump at a New York City party in 1998 and did not meet Epstein until 2000, contradicting a witness statement in the Epstein files that alleges Epstein introduced the couple.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sarah McBride; Nancy Mace
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Dem Rep. Sarah McBride Perfectly Shames Nancy Mace For Her Transphobic Response To McBride's Condemnation Of Trump

Delaware Democratic Representative Sarah McBride pushed back at South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace after Mace responded with transphobia to McBride's criticism of President Donald Trump's genocidal threat to kill the "whole civilization" of Iran.

Trump has insisted that God supports his war on Iran and declared—before a provisional ceasefire was announced—that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" ahead of a deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges that legal scholars and world leaders have said would constitute war crimes.

Keep ReadingShow less