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

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

“Melania” will premiere Thursday at the Kennedy Center, where the Trumps are expected to walk the red carpet before the film opens in theaters worldwide Friday. They hosted a similar viewing at the White House last Saturday.

The first lady has said that she got the idea for the documentary after her husband won the 2024 election and that it will give viewers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at her life.

“My new film, ‘Melania,’ provides a window into an important period for America, the 47th presidential inauguration,” she said Wednesday before ringing the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange. “For the first time in history, people will witness the 20 days leading up to the inauguration, through the eyes of an incoming first lady.”

A private person, Melania Trump still remains a bit of a mystery to the public in her husband’s second term.

She said the film will show what it takes to step into the high-profile role as she juggles being a businessperson, a wife and a mother, as well as the coordinator of her family’s move back to the Executive Mansion.

“Everyone wants to know. So here it is,” she says in the trailer for the nearly two-hour film.

‘Here we go again’

In another scene from the trailer, it is Inauguration Day and Melania Trump is inside the Capitol, waiting to be escorted into the Rotunda for the ceremony. She turns her head, looks directly into the camera that had been documenting her every move and says, “Here we go again.”

She wrote in her self-titled memoir published in 2024 about how much she values ​​her privacy. She is not as frequently seen or heard from as often as some of her recent predecessors, which may be influencing the public’s perceptions of her. But she also likes to do things her way.

The US public is divided on their views of the first lady, but a significant number — about 4 in 10 adults — had no opinion or had not heard of her, according to a CNN poll from January 2025. About 3 in 10 adults saw her favorably while roughly the same share had an unfavorable opinion.

Her standing among Republicans was higher, with about 7 in 10 saying in the poll that they viewed her favorably, but around one-quarter did not have an opinion.

Experts said the film could help improve perceptions of her.

“I think it’s an attempt, in a way, to really augment or tailor or really refine her image for the American public,” said Katherine Sibley, who teaches history at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. “She’s a mystery to the American people.”

First lady quotes impactful first year of second Trump term

Melania Trump, 55, said she’s honored to execute the traditional duties of first lady, such as holding state dinners, hosting the annual Easter Egg Roll and decorating for Christmas. But she has also suggested she wants to leave her mark in other ways, too.

“I want to impact Americans’ lives,” she said this week during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”

She spent chunks of time away from Washington last year working on the documentary and was deeply involved in every aspect of its development, according to Marc Beckman, her longtime senior adviser.

The well-being and safety of children remains one of her top priorities, and she has used her influence to lobby Congress to pass the “Take It Down Act,” making it a federal crime to publish intimate images online without consent. The president signed the bill into law and had her sign it, too.

Her advocacy for foster children was enshrined in an executive order creating a “Fostering the Future” program. It’s part of the “Be Best” child-focused initiative she launched in the first term.

She too wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin last year for help reuniting children who had been separated from their families because of his war against Ukraine. She had her husband hand-delivered the letter when the leaders met in Alaska, and she later announced that eight children had been reunited with their families.

The first lady accompanied the president on visits to disaster zones, where she helped console victims. She has taken a prominent role in the Republican administration’s efforts on artificial intelligence and education and launched a global version of the foster child program.

She told guests at a White House Christmas reception that she is working on a new legislative effort for 2026, but has not yet shared details.