18th December 2025 – (Washington) Melania Trump is stepping back into the spotlight with a feature-length film about her life in the days leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration – and with it reigniting a long-running debate over her originality and public image.
The former first lady’s new film, titled simply “MELANIA”, is due for worldwide theatrical release on 30 January 2026. The 104‑minute production, licensed by Amazon MGM Studios in what is reported to be the largest documentary deal in history at $40 million, promises what the studio calls an “unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look” at her private and public worlds during a politically charged 20‑day period.
The project traces its origins to November 2024, shortly after Donald Trump’s election victory. According to sources close to the production, Mrs Trump conceived the film as a cinematic account of the intense transition between campaign and inauguration. Filming began the following month, with Melania Trump not merely as subject but as a central creative force: she is credited as an executive producer and is described as having been “hands on” in every phase, from concept and filming to post-production and marketing.
Her long-time adviser and agent, Marc Beckman, led negotiations with major studios beginning on 18th November 2024. He told Fox News Digital that multiple platforms, including Disney, Netflix and Paramount, had sought the project. Amazon and MGM ultimately secured the rights, not only outbidding rivals but also committing to both a theatrical film and a documentary series. Beckman rejected reports that Amazon had paid almost triple any competing offer, describing the process as “incredibly competitive” with several bidding rounds and insisting Amazon prevailed because it “checked all the boxes” for scope and distribution.
The film itself follows Melania Trump over the 20 days leading up to the 20th January 2025 inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, moving between Trump Tower in New York, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and behind-the-scenes access in Washington, D.C. Sources say Mrs Trump was determined that the production should look like a “highly cinematic”, “elevated film” rather than a conventional documentary, underscoring her desire to frame this period as historic drama rather than simple reportage.
In written remarks released alongside the trailer, Mrs Trump describes the timeframe as “a rare and defining moment” in her life that demanded “meticulous care, integrity, and uncompromising craftsmanship”. She characterises the film as a “private, unfiltered look” at the way she navigated “family, business, and philanthropy” on the path to becoming first lady. “History is set in motion during the 20 days of my life prior to the U.S. Presidential Inauguration,” she says, adding that she is “proud to share this very specific moment” with audiences worldwide.
The newly released trailer, obtained exclusively by Fox News, opens with Melania Trump striding into the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on inauguration day, wearing her now-familiar ceremonial ensemble. Staring directly into the camera, she remarks, “Here we go again,” signalling both continuity and renewed scrutiny as her husband prepares to be sworn in for a second term.
The teaser then cuts rapidly between images: the Trumps together at the inauguration and at Mar-a-Lago; glimpses of her son Barron and her father; the presidential seal; Air Force One; and staff briefings. The familiar roar of the Metro Goldwyn Mayer lion interrupts the montage before the focus snaps back to scenes of planning and choreography around the upcoming inauguration.
In one sequence, Mrs Trump steps out of a vehicle in sleek black stiletto boots, a shot that has already attracted attention online for its resemblance to a scene from the 2006 film “The Devil Wears Prada”. There, fashion editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep and loosely based on Vogue’s Anna Wintour, is introduced via an almost identical car‑door, high‑heels moment symbolising her control and power as editor of the fictional magazine Runway. In the Hollywood original, anxious staff scramble to perfect the office before Priestly’s arrival, establishing her as a cold, exacting figure in the eyes of new assistant Andy Sachs, portrayed by Anne Hathaway.
Commentators have noted that the Melania trailer appears to echo that cinematic language of authority, inviting comparisons to Priestly’s imperious entrance. The similarity has fuelled renewed discussion of Mrs Trump’s history of being accused of borrowing too heavily from others’ work. Her office has not responded to requests for comment on the apparent homage, nor on the broader criticism of her creative choices.
The trailer also includes scenes of Mrs Trump reviewing documents with aides, standing poised in a white-and-black inaugural ball gown in the East Wing residence, and coordinating security. In one moment she asks a member of her security detail, “Is it safe?” only for the trailer to cut to police sirens and a presidential motorcade racing through city streets, heightening the sense of jeopardy around the transition. On screen, text reads: “20 days to become First Lady of the United States,” followed by Melania’s voiceover: “Everyone wants to know. So here it is.”
The clip closes on a phone call between the couple. “Mr President, congratulations,” she says, before Donald Trump replies, “Did you watch it?” When she answers, “I did not. Yeah, I will see it on the news,” the exchange appears to blur the line between the film’s narrative and the real-time spectacle of media coverage that has defined much of the Trump era. Viewers are then invited to “witness history in the making” when the film opens in cinemas globally on 30 January.
Melania Trump’s decision to seize control of her story on screen comes against the backdrop of a long-running conversation about her originality and authenticity. On Inauguration Day 2021, she left Washington as first lady wearing a blue-and-orange caftan, navy flats and oversized sunglasses – a look widely interpreted as a fashion version of an “out-of-office” notice, as she and her husband faced unprecedented political isolation in the immediate aftermath of the 6 January Capitol riot.
Her public image has since been coloured by a series of plagiarism controversies. During the 2016 Republican National Convention, she delivered a speech that was later found to contain passages closely mirroring remarks made years earlier by then–First Lady Michelle Obama. Her speechwriter at the time, Meredith McIver, ultimately accepted responsibility for lifting Mrs Obama’s words.
In 2018, her “Be Best” initiative on online safety for children came under fire when its booklet, including text and illustrations, was found to closely resemble a publication produced under the Obama administration on the same topic. After the similarities were widely reported, the Trump White House changed the credit line from “by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission” to “Federal Trade Commission booklet, promoted by First Lady Melania Trump”.
These episodes continue to shadow her attempts to define a distinct public persona. Critics argue that the apparent visual nod to The Devil Wears Prada in the new trailer reinforces a pattern of borrowing iconic imagery rather than creating wholly original moments. Supporters, however, may view such references as a deliberate appropriation of cinematic shorthand to underline her own status and influence.
The film also builds on Melania Trump’s recent foray into publishing. Her memoir, also titled “Melania”, was released a year earlier and has remained on The New York Times best‑seller list since publication, accompanied by a special collector’s edition featuring photographs she personally selected, including images of her home and overseas trips. At the time of the book’s launch, she described writing her memoir as “an amazing journey filled with emotional highs and lows”, saying that revisiting each story reminded her of her resilience and “the beauty of sharing my truth”.
More recently, she has experimented with technology-focused projects, including an AI‑narrated Spanish-language audiobook edition of her memoir, presented as part of a “new frontier” in publishing. The film “MELANIA” extends that effort to control the narrative around her life and legacy, this time on the big screen and to a global audience.
Amazon will later complement the theatrical release with a documentary series, further expanding the reach of the project. Fox News has reported that Melania Trump is granting what it describes as unprecedented access to the inner workings of a first lady’s life during such a compressed, politically sensitive period.
Back in January 2021, Melania Trump left Washington under a cloud of controversy, her fashion choices signalling retreat at a time when she and her husband were on the brink of political ostracism. With “MELANIA”, she appears intent on rewriting that chapter, inviting the public into what she frames as a decisive and “historically consequential” 20‑day stretch – and making it clear that, from her perspective, things have changed.
