Melania Trump’s photographer draws trolls after claiming first lady’s WH portrait captures her 'kindness'

WASHINGTON, DC: Belgian photographer Regine Mahaux, the official portrait photographer for the newly reinstated First Lady Melania Trump, claimed that the recently released viral picture captured her "kindness" in an interview with Vanity Fair published on Wednesday, January 29.

Mahaux first photographed Melania with her husband, President Donald Trump, on an assignment from Getty Images back in 2008. She has been the photographer for the Trumps on numerous significant occasions since, including the first official portrait of Melania in 2017, and the January 20 presidential inauguration.

Regine Mahaux on official portrait of Melania Trump

The 2025 official portrait of FLOTUS captured Melania Trump in black-and-white wearing a Dolce & Gabbana-designed tuxedo and cummerbund with a crisp white shirt. She stood in the Yellow Oval Room in the residential wing of the White House with the Washington Monument visible through the window over her right shoulder.

The 54-year-old former model stands with canted hips and fingers tented on a reflecting table top in front of her, staring intensely into the camera. While the photograph has widely been interpreted to mean serious business, Mahaux shared a different take on her work.

The goal while capturing the official portrait of Melania was to "always do something that really reflects her," shared Mahaux. "I feel that her kindness and involvement and her engagement are reflected in this picture."

While the portrait also came under criticism on social media for allegedly being over-edited, the photographer explained, "The picture didn't need to be retouched because we wanted to keep the authenticity."

She recalled the day of capturing the photo as "not sunny" and therefore not causing any issues with backlighting.

"It was gray, and Melania looks good in gray, and everything looks good in gray," she noted.

Internet mocks photographer's claim of capturing kindness

Netizens reacting to Regine Mahaux's statement on the social media platform X trolled her for claiming Melania Trump's "kindness" was reflected in the official portrait. The following tweets demonstrate their takes.

"Where is it, I don’t see it 🤡," wrote a user.

"What??? Kindness???😂" jibed another.

"I seriously doubt there's much kindness there," shared a third.

"That is hilarious 😂," chided a fourth.

"Kindness? I think not," expressed a fifth.

"Don’t they mean, lack there of?" quipped a sixth.

"Oh so that was the look you were going for," mocked yet another with a gif.

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