Melania Trump has revealed the cringeworthy nickname she has given her 79-year-old husband.
The first lady, 55, gave a six-minute speech at the premiere of her vanity documentary Melania at the Kennedy Center on Thursday.
She called the screening “an incredible historic moment” before clarifying that it is “not” a documentary, rather “a very deliberate act of authorship, inviting you to witness events and emotions through a window of rich imagery.”
Melania then called her husband, “America’s director, Donald Trump.”
She thanked him for “providing our family with a life filled with experiences that only one could imagine.”
Melania thanked her son Barron, and her sister, father and late mother. She did not thank any other members of the Trump family.
Barron, 19, was not there to hear his shout-out, having seen the documentary during the VIP private screening at the White House on Saturday and apparently decided that was enough.
Three of the president’s other children, Ivanka, Tiffany and Eric Trump, were also no-shows on Thursday, although Donald Trump Jr. did attend the premiere with fiancée Bettina Anderson.
During her speech, Melania was full of praise for Amazon, saying, “Creating a film and launching a global marketing campaign is not easy feat.”
The film was funded by Amazon Studios, including $40 million to obtain the rights to the project and a further $35 million for marketing .The deal was announced in early January 2025, just weeks after Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos had joined the Trumps for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
The eye-watering budget comes as Amazon cuts over 16,000 corporate jobs, while Bezos is reportedly slashing up to 300 positions at his newspaper The Washington Post.
The president was asked whether billionaire Bezos funded the film to stay in his good graces.
“Amazon paid $75 million to make and market this film. It’s an exorbitant fee,” a reporter asked Trump. “Many Americans think that this is maybe Jeff Bezos trying to get in good with you, and they would call it an act of corporate corruption—”
“Who’re you with? Who’re you with?” Trump interrupted.
“The New York Times,” the reporter, Shawn McCreesh, replied.
“Ugh,” the billionaire president scoffed, “Fake news, New York Times. No, I don’t know, I mean, I don’t know really, I’m not involved in that. That was done with my wife.”
During her speech, Melania claimed the documentary’s director Brett Ratner had “superior talent.”
Ratner has been banished from Hollywood after allegations from six women, including actress Olivia Munn, of sexual misconduct. He has denied the claims.
During Thursday’s premiere, Ratner was confronted about reports that some crew members on his Melania requested not to be credited for their work on the film.
Ratner said the movie “picked up a lot of crew” in various states including Florida and New York, whom he labelled “day players” and said weren’t his “main crew.”
The Rush Hour director was seen snapping at a person off camera, saying, “Hold on, I want to answer.”
“I understand if a liberal is working on the movie and they don’t want to be credited, but they want to feed their family. I don’t blame anybody for that.”
“I don’t know who didn’t want to be a part of it, I wasn’t aware of it, but I learned about it when I read it.”
CNN data analyst Harry Enten reported Thursday that Melania is projected to earn as little as $1 million on its opening weekend.
