President Donald Trump swooned over his “movie star” wife while freewheeling through eyebrow-raising stats about her film.
During his speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner on Wednesday evening, the 79-year-old president took a moment to shout out Melania, 55, and her eponymous documentary.
“And our great first lady who now turns out to be a fantastic movie star,” Trump said. “Do you believe this? She had the number one movie. Now she’s number one on streaming.”
The former reality star proceeded to joke that Melania’s success might spell trouble for him, saying, “This is not a good sign.”
“You can’t have two stars in one family. So, this is not good. I’ve always said you can’t have stars. There’s only room for one star in the family,” he said, seemingly referring to himself.
“Now, she has the number one movie and now she’s got number one on streaming,” he repeated. “There’s no talking to her.”
He added, “Darling, congratulations on being number one.”
Melania was not the number one movie when it came out in theaters on Jan. 30, though it exceeded box-office expectations by earning roughly $7 million on its opening weekend. But attendance plummeted quickly, and given its $75 million budget—courtesy of Jeff Bezos’ Amazon—it needed much more to be a financial success.
The critically panned documentary ultimately earned $16.6 million worldwide—a paltry return on its very hefty price tag.
When the documentary dropped on Amazon Prime Video earlier this month, it rocketed to number one on the streamer’s U.S. charts, according to Flix Patrol. Its reign was brief, however, and Melania has since fallen to third place—behind Mercy and Sinners.
Melania chronicled the first lady’s life in the 20 days before her husband was inaugurated for the second time. Critics slammed the film as “chillingly vain,” “exhaustingly boring,” and ultimately “unredeemable.”
Still, Trump is apparently convinced of his wife’s star power, having previously gushed about her while making similar comments.
“She has a very successful movie out right now, like number one. Can you believe this?” Trump said at his inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting last month, as top officials from countries around the world looked on. “Big movie star, and I always say it’s trouble, because I always say there’s not room in one family for two stars.”
“I told her that we can’t have two stars in one family, so I don’t know what that means, but it’s not, it’s not good,” Trump added.
