‘You Did Not!’: Ex-Vanity Fair Editor Stuns Anderson Cooper With How He Trolled Trump

On Mar 26, 2025

Graydon Carter, the former longtime editor of Vanity Fair, surprised CNN’s Anderson Cooper with a story about how he once trolled Donald Trump ― and hit a particularly sore spot for the now-president.

Carter’s feud with Trump dates back decades when, in GQ magazine, he described Trump’s “too large” cufflinks and “too small” hands in what was Trump’s “first national exposure,” he told Cooper.

“That drove him crazy,” Carter recalled on Monday while promoting his new memoir, “When The Going Was Good.”

Carter’s Spy magazine later coined the now-infamous nickname “short-fingered vulgarian” for Trump, a moniker Carter said “drove him crazy” even more.

“We tried to be friends for a period, and that didn’t work out,” Carter remembered. And then, just before Trump announced his 2016 presidential run, Carter said he received from him a 25-year-old ad for his “Art of the Deal” book with Trump’s hand in the promo picture circled by a gold-colored Sharpie.

Next to it, Carter said, Trump had written, “See, quite large.”

Carter said he “stapled a card to it,” writing, “Actually quite small,” and had it hand-delivered right back to Trump.

“You did not!” Cooper exclaimed.

“I did,” Carter confirmed. “I should have held onto it.”

“You couldn’t let it go?” Cooper asked.

“It was just too easy,” Carter replied.

Later in the interview, Cooper asked the Canadian-born Carter about Trump’s recent rhetoric on the country, including trade war threats and his demand that it become America’s 51st state.

“You cannot ask for a better neighbor. Canada is a loyal ally in times of war, a great trading partner,” Carter said.

“I’m not quite sure what he thinks the end game is here because it’s not going to happen,” he added. “Canadians do not want to be Americans. And if he goes in in the winter, he may face the same problems that Hitler did when he went into Russia in the winter. Canadians are good on ice, and they are tough.”

Watch the interview here:

pic.twitter.com/dpwK8b8T9U

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 25, 2025

","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Anderson Cooper 360°","author_url":"https://twitter.com/AC360","cache_age":86400,"description":"Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter shares details on his "short-fingered vulgarian" comment about President Trump years ago. Carter writes about that and much more in his new memoir "When the Going Was Good". pic.twitter.com/dpwK8b8T9U— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 25, 2025nnn","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/1904339257638146048/img/5RzvmAg6g84k14Sq.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Anderson Cooper 360° on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/AC360/status/1904339532570337383","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"67e288cce4b06e4e058d44e1","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/graydon-carter-trolls-donald-trump_n_67e288cce4b06e4e058d44e1","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,anderson-cooper,graydon-carter,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"media,entertainment,weird-news,tv,us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/8d188410-7844-4271-82bd-4d3abe07ca05/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":1},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"67e288cce4b06e4e058d44e1","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Anderson Cooper","slug":"anderson-cooper","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/anderson-cooper","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/anderson-cooper","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/anderson-cooper"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"Anderson Cooper","slug":"anderson-cooper","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/anderson-cooper"},{"name":"graydon carter","slug":"graydon-carter","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/graydon-carter","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/graydon-carter","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/graydon-carter"},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/graydon-carter"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

rnrn","

rnrn"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter shares details on his “short-fingered vulgarian” comment about President Trump years ago. Carter writes about that and much more in his new memoir “When the Going Was Good”. pic.twitter.com/dpwK8b8T9U

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 25, 2025