Trump used the State of the Union to plug Melania’s documentary for the hundredth time, and the film is still bombing despite every effort he’s made

President Trump used his State of the Union address to promote First Lady Melania Trump and her documentary, Melania, in front of a joint session of Congress. He called her a “movie star” and said, “No one cares more about protecting America’s youth than our wonderful first lady, now a movie star. She’s a movie star, can you believe it?” Melania, who was seated in the House chamber gallery, smiled as he spoke.

Trump also praised her work on a presidential AI challenge and a foster care initiative during the address. According to The Daily Beast, this was not a one-time mention, he has repeatedly referred to her as “my movie star” at various public appearances and has posted multiple times on social media to promote the documentary since its release.

Just last week, at the first meeting of his “Board of Peace,” Trump brought up the film again. He told the assembled leaders, “She has a very successful movie out right now, like number one. Can you believe this?” He then added, “Big movie star, and I always say it’s trouble, because I always say there’s not room in one family for two stars,” and continued, “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.”

The numbers tell a different story from what Trump keeps saying about packed theaters

Despite Trump’s repeated claims that theaters are packed and that women are going back to see the film multiple times, the documentary is underperforming at the box office. After three weeks in theaters, Melania is projected to gross just over $15 million in total. This comes at a time when Trump’s media presence has been under scrutiny, with networks making editorial choices about covering White House events.

That figure is a significant gap when compared to the $75 million Amazon invested in the project. The investment included a $40 million payment directly to the First Lady for access to the film, and another $35 million spent on marketing.

With a $40 million payment to Melania alone, and total costs reaching $75 million, a box office projection of just $15 million means the film is far from recovering its costs. Trump has faced scrutiny on several fronts lately, including his tariff policies drawing criticism from his own Supreme Court picks.

Trump’s ongoing and repeated promotion of the documentary, from the State of the Union to board meetings to social media posts, has done little to change the film’s performance with audiences. The gap between the president’s public claims about the film’s success and the actual box office numbers continues to grow with each passing week.