Melania overload
Interest in the new documentary on first lady Melania Trump is so strong that producers are working on opening overflow theaters, “Seen, Heard & Whispered” has been told.
The film, which tracks Mrs. Trump over the 20 days leading up to President Trump’s second swearing-in last year, opens in 5,000 theaters worldwide on Friday.
A premiere at the Trump-Kennedy Center on Thursday night was expected to draw the first couple and all but two members of the president’s Cabinet. Intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard and Energy Secretary Chris Wright had previous obligations.
Executive Producer Marc Beckman told “Seen, Heard & Whispered” the film is an unprecedented look at Mrs. Trump and her world. He said it will give the public a view into rooms and spaces never seen by the public.
SEE ALSO: Trump’s Cabinet in nearly full force to honor ‘Melania’
“I want them to walk away with an idea of how hard our first lady works,” Mr. Beckman said. “She has shifted her focus. It’s mission-oriented.”
He said he expects the documentary to have a wide audience, from the fashion world to those interested in geopolitics.
He said it should resonate in particular with young women. He knocked the feminist movement for leading some women to miss out on family and the joy that comes with that.
He thinks the “Melania” documentary gives young women a glimpse of what it’s like to have a family life while also running businesses.
Mr. Beckman said Mrs. Trump has taken the Office of the First Lady beyond traditional tasks such as deciding on Christmas themes and decorations, getting involved in international diplomacy and even legislation.
He said she “is reinventing the East Wing.”
SEE ALSO: Here comes ‘Melania,’ plus her initiatives for foster children, AI training
Mrs. Trump pushed passage of the Take It Down Act, which requires platforms to pull intimate images and deepfakes within two days of a report and criminalizes posting such content.
She has also worked to expand educational, work and housing opportunities for foster children and has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to reunite Ukrainian children with their families amid the war.
The film had a private screening at the White House last weekend.
The documentary cost Amazon MGM Studios a reported $40 million for the rights and $35 million for marketing and distribution.
Trump detractors have gleefully taken to social media to post early ticket sales data, such as one Florida theater with nearly every seat still available for a 9:55 p.m. Friday showing.
In Washington, though, the celebration was expected to run strong on a Thursday night after party at D.C.’s Executive Branch club, founded by Mr. Trump’s son Don Jr.
Akon, a rapper, songwriter and producer, was set to perform.
His appearance with the Trumps followed Nicki Minaj, another rapper who met with the president at the White House this week to back the new Trump Accounts for babies.
Ms. Minaj declared herself Mr. Trump’s “No. 1 fan.” She walked away with a Trump Gold Card, which offers a speedy path to citizenship for wealthy foreigners. The Trinidadian said on social media that she got the card “free of charge” while she finalizes her U.S. citizenship paperwork.
Wedge issue
The presidential diet has long been a source of interest and speculation, and “Seen, Heard & Whispered” can report that Mr. Trump is a big fan of wedge salad and French fries at his Mar-a-Lago home.
But he still regularly has food from McDonald’s brought in.
An employee who used to work at the resort said Mr. Trump had his favorites among the servers, and she said the entire Trump family was kind.
The former employee, who worked there during the first Trump term, said it got a bit frustrating to work at the club amid the heavy Secret Service presence.
The employee also said a large part of the staff included migrants on work visas, with Romanians and South Africans well represented.
Call to fathers
“Melania” isn’t the only documentary drawing attention on the right this week. “Fathers Wanted,” a film sounding the alarm about the breakdown of the traditional family and child-rearing, premiered at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.
Terry Schilling, who as president of the American Principles Project helped make the movie, said one hurdle to families is the growing trend of investment firms — not just big banks, but also corporations and flippers — buying up U.S. houses, numbering one of every four sales.
Mr. Schilling said that trend has priced some families out of homeownership.
“Marriage and home must trump money managers,” he said.
A father of seven, Mr. Schilling dedicated the film to his own father, who raised 10 children.
“This was putting my heart on a sleeve,” he said at the premiere, held in a Gilded Age-style ballroom, with 20 chandeliers, white and gold paint, and marble — a signature of Mr. Trump’s decor.
• “Seen, Heard & Whispered” is a weekly column taking you inside the conversations happening in Washington’s power corridors, the moves being made and the whispers that explain what’s really going on in the nation’s capital. Email tips to whispered@washingtontimes.com.
