A U.S. official was busted arguing to get disgraced Melania director Brett Ratner into President Donald Trump’s bilateral talks in China, according to a report.
Trump is in China in a bid to strengthen economic ties with Xi Jinping. The first round of talks took place on Thursday in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
After Trump and his entourage bustled inside following an exchange of photo-ready pleasantries, a little skirmish unfolded on the sidelines. At the center was Ratner, according to NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright, who was in situ as it unfolded.
She overheard a U.S. official “verbally sparring with their Chinese counterparts,” in a bid to get Ratner and his cameraman, Ari Robbins, into the Great Hall.
The pair, who rode on Air Force One with the president to Beijing, were blocked by Chinese security officials. It is unclear whether the duo eventually gained access.
Chinese security has been classically tight. Officials even refused to allow a U.S. Secret Service agent into the 15th-Century Temple of Heaven compound because he was carrying a gun.
This led to an “intense” half-hour standoff between security officials from the two nations, according to a reporter traveling with the president.
The White House Press Pool Reports account on X reported on the incident. “The pool’s entry to the temple complex was delayed by nearly half an hour by a lengthy and increasingly intense discussion between U.S. and Chinese officials, after Chinese security refused to allow a Secret Service agent accompanying the pool to enter the temple compound with his weapon,” AFP correspondent Danny Kemp reported.
“A compromise was eventually found,” he added, without offering specifics.
Kemp later offered an update, saying that the press pool were “now holding” at the temple complex, “while U.S. and Chinese officials who are keeping us in a side room have a spirited debate about whether we can move.”
A follow-up post at 1:41 p.m local time said Trump was leaving the Temple of Heaven, while the pool endured “after another brief delay while U.S. staff and reporters had an even more spirited discussion with Chinese officials, who several times tried to stop them from leaving and joining the (presidential) motorcade.”
Ratner, meanwhile, flew aboard Air Force One with the president to China, where he is said to be scouting filming locations for Rush Hour 4, a movie Trump demanded that Paramount CEO David Ellison, son of multibillionaire Trump donor Larry Ellison, reboot two decades after the last installment.
Ratner, 57, directed the Melania documentary after Amazon acquired the film’s rights for $40 million. The company also promoted the film with a $35 million marketing campaign.
Before Melania, he had left Hollywood in shame after he was accused by multiple women of sexual assault, including by actress Olivia Munn. Ratner had denied the allegations, but Warner Bros. cut ties with him, and he moved to Israel in 2023.
Ratner “categorically” disputed the women’s accounts. He described being hired to direct Melania as “divine intervention,” one that was supposed to get his career back on track.
However, it ran into more trouble earlier this year as he was also one of several high-profile men who were photographed in the Epstein files. One image shows Ratner hugging Jean-Luc Brunel, one of Epstein’s associates.
Ratner had been hoping Melania would be his big break back into Hollywood, but the documentary bombed at the box office, bringing in just over $16 million, a fraction of what was spent on it. It flopped so badly that several crew members even requested their names be removed from the credits.
