A dramatic photoshoot for Vanity Fair magazine at the White House was thrown into disarray last November when top advisers to President Donald Trump were suddenly raced into the high-security Situation Room, the photographer behind the session has revealed.
The Situation Room Showdown
Christopher Anderson, the 55-year-old photographer tasked with capturing the now-infamous portraits, told Vanity Fair the urgent gathering was not triggered by a national security crisis. Instead, the panic was over efforts to release the Epstein files.
Anderson claimed the president's closest advisors were scrambling because Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a staunch Trump ally, was preparing to rebel against the White House by supporting a bill to force transparency. "We later found out that day that it was Congresswoman Lauren Boebert who had been called into the Situation Room to put pressure on her about not pushing to release the Epstein files," Anderson stated.
Pressure Campaign and Defiance
The incident unfolded as Boebert joined several other hardline Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, in breaking with the president over the issue. After Boebert publicly backed the bipartisan Epstein Transparency Act, Trump allegedly mounted a pressure campaign on several Republicans to oppose it.
According to Anderson's account, this campaign saw Boebert confronted in the hallowed Situation Room, a place typically reserved for meetings of grave national importance. Notably, the tactic failed. Boebert continued to lead efforts to pass the legislation, which resulted in a huge trove of evidence from investigations into Jeffrey Epstein being made public this week.
President Trump eventually performed a U-turn, urging Republicans to support the act. It passed overwhelmingly on November 18 by a vote of 427 to 1.
Fallout from the Vanity Fair Profiles
The behind-the-scenes look at the chaotic photoshoot comes after the published Vanity Fair profiles themselves triggered a political firestorm, chiefly due to comments from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Wiles described Trump as having an "alcoholic's personality" and reportedly called Vice President JD Vance a "conspiracy theorist" – remarks the White House claimed were taken out of context.
Anderson's unflattering photographic depictions, including a stark close-up of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, also divided opinion. During the shoot, an unnamed White House official ominously joked, "We're all going to get fired for this." Vice President Vance immediately retorted, "Except for me. I have 100 percent job security."
Vance was reportedly full of barbs during the session, even joking to Anderson about Secretary of State Marco Rubio: "I'll give you $100 for every person you make look really s***ty compared to me. And $1,000 if it's Marco."
The photographer also recalled a telling exchange with Wiles' deputy, Stephen Miller, who remarked on the power of using discretion "to be kind to people." Anderson says he replied, "Yeah, you know, you do too."
