Donald Trump sparked fresh online commentary this week after describing his wife Melania’s birthplace in vague terms, prompting critics to argue he appeared to forget where she is from.
On Thursday, January 29, Melania’s new self-titled documentary premiered in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center. The event marked a high-profile moment for the first lady, with the film set to screen in more than 1,500 theaters across the U.S. and Canada.
On the red carpet, Trump was asked what he thought of Melania’s latest project.
“Well, I am proud of her. She’s still doing a great job. It’s a thing like, this is not easy, and years she comes from my faraway country, a wonderful country, clean, beautiful, safe. They don’t have problems like others have, but she comes from a country that’s a very safe country. Good country in many ways, but it’s different. And she’s, uh, she’s picked it up very easily, speaks a lot of languages, very smart, understands what’s happening, and really is a good influencer,” he said.
Public records note that Melania “was born on April 26, 1970, in Slovenia” and “in 1996, Mrs. Trump moved to New York, and 10 years later, she proudly became a United States Citizen.”
In another exchange caught on camera, Trump was asked about Melania’s influence on his life. A reporter put it plainly: “Would you be the man you are today if you hadn’t met your wife?”
Trump paused before replying: “He’s asking me a very dangerous question.”
He then continued with more praise, saying Melania has been a strong presence in his life: “I think she’s really been a great help. She’s done a great job: Very respected, very smart, very measured, very measured — sometimes when I’m not so measured.”
As the night went on, attention drifted from the documentary to the couple’s on-camera dynamic. Online commenters dissected their red-carpet appearance, with several suggesting they seemed more distant than celebratory.
Melania, speaking to reporters, said she hoped viewers would take away a wide range of feelings from the film.
“They will see a lot of emotion, fashion, grief, sadness, celebration, love. That’s the message for the people,” she said.
Meanwhile, Trump stood nearby with a more reserved posture, and clips from the event spread quickly online as viewers focused on the space between them and their body language. One user posted footage on X with a sarcastic caption: “Trump looks thrilled to be there.”
Others were more blunt. “This is not married couple,” one critic wrote.
“He can’t stand when he’s not getting all the attention, it drives him insane,” another added.
A day earlier, Melania looked back on their long relationship during a Fox News interview. She married Trump in 2005, years before his first presidential campaign.
One of the hosts asked, “What’s your relationship with the president, not knowing he was going to be president?”
Melania said she always believed politics was a possibility, and claimed she encouraged him. “Well, I always thought you know that one day he might go and run, and I always told him if you do it, you will win, because I knew how much people loved him. So, and here we are again.”
She also described how she approaches advising him behind the scenes.
“I give him my advice, and I tell him what I think. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t, but I am here to support him. I think it’s very important to have open communication,” the mother-of-one told Fox News on January 27.
