Former President Donald Trump has been a regular at the Met Gala over the years—even making headlines back in 2004 when he proposed to Melania on the way to the event. But this year, his absence was impossible to miss—and by all accounts, it wasn’t a surprise.
In fact, Trump hasn’t been on the guest list for a while. That’s because Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who’s been at the helm of the Met Gala since 1997, made it clear years ago that Trump is no longer welcome.
“He will never be invited again,” Wintour said during a 2017 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
That ban reportedly went into effect after Trump took office in 2016—and it’s still in place even as he runs for president again in 2024.
Trump’s ties to the Met Gala go way back. He frequently attended during the ’80s and ’90s, often alongside his then-wives Ivana Trump and later Marla Maples. His 2004 proposal to Melania en route to the event was one of his most talked-about appearances and landed him plenty of tabloid attention.
But the gala has shifted over time. Though Wintour maintains that the Met Gala is about fashion, not politics, the guest list and themes often tell a more nuanced story.
