Melania Trump's documentary premieres at the Kennedy Center ahead of global release

Описание: (30 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington - 29 January 2026
1. Various of U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arriving, posing for pictures
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Melania Trump, First Lady:
“I want to show the audience my life, what it takes to be a first lady again and transition from private citizen back to the White House, what task I need to tackle. And they will see all from my business, philanthropy, taking care of my family as well, stablishing the East Wing. So all in all."
3. First lady Melania Trump posing for pictures
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Melania Trump, First Lady:
“It's beautiful, it's emotional, it's fashionable, it's cinematic and I'm very proud of it.”
5. Various of Melania speaking to reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Brett Ratner, Director:
(Reporter: "How will you measure success for this movie?")
Brett Ratner: "Definitely not by the box office, you know? Because it's a documentary. And documentaries historically have not been huge box office smashes. I think the support that Amazon has given, you know, this film as far as with their advertising, with their marketing, with the belief in the movie, with putting it in a theatrical worldwide. For me as a filmmaker, is the ultimate. I've already succeeded. Having the film in theaters is already a huge success for me. It's a documentary. You can't expect a documentary to play in theaters. So, for me, it's, it's incredible."
7. Various of Director Brett Ratner posing for pictures
STORYLINE:
Melania Trump is capping her first year back as first lady with the global release of a documentary she produced about the 20 days leading up to husband Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

A private person, Melania Trump remains a bit of a mystery to the public in her husband’s second term. “Melania” premieres Thursday at the Kennedy Center, where the Trumps were the final VIPs to walk a charcoal-colored runway for the event. The film opens in theaters worldwide on Friday.

“I want to show the audience my life, what it takes to be a first lady again and (the) transition from private citizen back to the White House,” Melania Trump told reporters, adding that audiences will see how she conducts her businesses and philanthropy, cares for her family and sets up her White House team.

“It's beautiful, it's emotional, it's fashionable, it's cinematic and I'm very proud of it,” she said.

The documentary, which was produced by AmazonMGM Studios and is said to have cost $40 million, will stream exclusively on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service after its theatrical run in approximately 1,600 screens worldwide Friday, including about 1,500 in the United States.

But director Brett Ratner said he would not measure success by how the film performs at the box office. “It’s a documentary and documentaries historically have not been huge box office smashes,” he told reporters on his way into the premiere. “You can’t expect a documentary to play in theaters.”

Several members of the president's Cabinet and of Congress, along with conservative commentators attended the showing in the Kennedy Center's Opera House.

The Republican president saw the nearly two-hour film for the first time at a private White House screening over the weekend. He said Thursday that he thought it was “really great.”

“But it really brings back a glamour that you just don’t see anymore," Trump said. “Our country can use a little bit of that, right?”


“Everyone wants to know. So here it is,” she said in the movie trailer.

AP video by Mike Pesoli



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