Melania Trump, arguably the prettiest (former model), most elegant, and smartest (she speaks 6 languages) First Lady the United States has ever had, has not been on the cover of a major fashion magazine during Donald Trump’s two Presidential terms so far.
For example, Vanity Fair has never had First Lady Melania on its cover during both Trump’s 1st term and so far in his 2nd term, nor has Vogue Magazine (run by the Advance Media corporation), which broke its long-standing tradition of featuring the First Lady on at least one cover.
In general, Melania has been ignored and/or Shit On by the propaganda media.
If anything ever drove one to go watch the documentary movie Melania in the theaters — that would be it.
And so I — who have come to hate Hollywood movies and never goes to the theater anymore to watch them — went out of my way to go with the wife to see “Melania” on its opening weekend.
Nothing appealed to me about this movie going in — Melania has been a terrific First Lady, and been absolutely crapped on by the main-stream propaganda press — so I went to show support — but still I didn’t feel any need to go see a documentary on her.
And yet I came away glad I went. It was a Wonderful movie. And I use that term with precision.
It was inspiring, and it was interesting, and it was heart warming.
Preparing for the Inauguration — Art & Architecture
The movie starts off a little dry — as Melania is working with the Event Coordinator for the Inauguration (David Monn) as Trump has just won his 2nd term. It is December 2024. The documentary then shows her working with her fashion designer (Hervé Pierre) on the dresses she will wear for the inauguration and the inauguration balls.
Although dry, these opening scenes are fascinating and inspiring, as they are filmed in Trump Tower in Manhattan (with its amazing views of Central Park), Mar-a-Lago, and the workplace of David Monn. The architecture of the environs is inspirational.
Event Architecture & Design
Monn did an Amazing job with the event planning of the inauguration — and you see the architecture behind it, including the selection of plates, the invitation, the preparation of what the first meal at the night before’s Candlelight dinner will be (a golden egg with caviar inside), and the colors used (the invitation matched the color of the building it was housed in — the National Building Museum). It is really amazing stuff from an art and architecture perspective.
The Architecture of Melania’s Dresses
And then comes the design of the dresses Melania will wear — which would normally absolutely bore me. But again here you get the background of the architecting of the dresses — and designer Herve Pierre describes it as architecture. It is revealed that Melania has been working with Pierre for 8 years; they are good friends. Pierre has a Dom DeLouise-esq effervescent personality; funny. Melania of course was a fashion model, so her feedback is precise.
Design of both the Inauguration outfit with hat and the Zig Zag dress that Melania will wear at the Inauguration Balls are covered. Pierre goes into detail on the amazing design of the Zig Zag dress — stating how years from now people will view it in a museum and be confused how Melania could ever put it on as it seemingly has no seem — the seem is hidden inside. Pierre has stated (outside the movie) that the Zig Zag dress was designed as a simple zig zag that someone would scribble.
Trump the Lion Enters
All of that lays the foundation that comes to fruition at the end of the movie — it is a kind of foreshadowing — you now know the background details as the inauguration plays out.
Donald Trump enters movie a quarter of the way in, and immediately lightens things up — he is a lion, but is funny, and Melania lightens up with him.
Melania Working Behind the Scenes
You also see Melania interviewing people for positions on her staff, speaking with first-lady leaders of other countries on initiatives to help orphan children (Brigitte Macron of France is one, which was a bit of a head spinner), and then also her thoughts on how she has brought up Baron (and you get to see some not-readily-seen footage of Baron getting rock-star applause at the inauguration with him giving his dad Donald Trump a wink).
We learn — as Melania is driven thru the FDR drive in Manhattan — that her favorite musical artist is Michael Jackson — whom Trumper’s might know was close friends with Trump.
As a background note that makes this scene interesting — Trump was one of the very few famous people to defend Michael Jackson, saying he lived (as a tenant) in Trump’s building, and they used to trust Michael to watch their kids. Janet Jackson and the Jackson family are pro Trump to this day. Some suggest Michael Jackson was framed and suicided after speaking out against the powers that control music at one of his concerts, but that is tangential to this movie.
Movie Gains Steam — 2nd Half Is a Charm
The second half of the movie is a charm. It is at times endearing (Trump taking Melania’s advice on something he says in a trial run of his inauguration speech, and jokingly asking the cameras to stop filming so she doesn’t get credit). At times I laughed, as did others in the theater.
It all leads up to the Candlelight Dinner the night before the Inauguration, and then Inauguration Day. During the Inauguration speech, he uses the phrase she suggested he use, and he then points back at her to give her props. Now you know why he did that.
Then comes inauguration evening and the Inaugural Balls — 3 of them — the Commander and Chief Ball for the Military, the Liberty Ball, and the Starlight Ball. Finally after all is done, they enter the White House to go to bed. Trump and Melania were up 22 straight hours.
The documentary comes to a close as Trump starts his first day on the job of his 2nd term.
Music = Great
The music played in the background of the movie is terrific. Starting with Michael Jackson, and towards the end of the music, symphonic backdrops of songs such as “What Will I Do?” (see movie snippet below).
Attendance
The wife and I saw it at the Regal Theater in Tottenville, Staten Island on the opening Saturday, Jan 31, 2026. The theater was pretty well attended — 1/3 full which seemed pretty darned good for a documentary. Most of the attendees were women in their 30s thru 70s.
It is being reported at this writing (on Sunday with the weekend still to be played out) by Hollywood Reporter and Fox News — that the movie has already grossed $8 Million — which is the most for an opening weekend for a documentary in 10 years.
Produced by Amazon
It was interesting to note going in that the movie was produced and distributed by Amazon — and to examine the backstory to that. Trump needs to make deals with major American-based corporations for the US to continue to lead the world, and one of the first handshakes he made was with arch-enemy Jeff Bezos of Amazon and majority owner of the Washington Post.
Bottom Line Review
Bottom line: a Wonderful movie. Inspiring. Interesting. Full of art and architecture. It gives your brain info that you will remember for the rest of your life.
Hardest Part of Writing this Review
The hardest part of creating this review has been coming up with the main picture — because it is very difficult to find a picture with Melania and Trump together where they haven’t published Trump with a stern face or his eyes closed. The main propaganda outlets almost always publish bad photos of Trump.
Snippet
Here is a snippet I filmed from my seat in the theater. There were other scenes I wish I would have filmed for this snippet, but this one isn’t bad. It is at the end of the movie.
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