Melania in “Melania”.Image: keystone
Melania Trump talks about Melania Trump. The documentary, commissioned, produced and presented by the First Lady, is available in Switzerland on Prime Video. A (very) long, narcissistic sketch of almost two hours that makes absolutely no sense.
March 9, 2026, 8:12 p.mMarch 9, 2026, 8:12 p.m
In order to impatiently endure “Melania” for almost two hours without having to bite the edge of the table, you have to be able to put your own political views and passion for films aside. Like true professionals, we did this this Monday morning, a few minutes after the documentary about the First Lady appeared on Prime Video.
Glittering distraction
We must also leave aside the controversies that marred the January 30 release. A self-dramatization laced with glitz and glamor as her husband’s government violently roamed the streets of America with ICE, Jeff Bezos’ quest to secure a golden path to power first and foremost, and the numerous allegations of sexual assault against the film’s director, Brett Ratner.
translation
This text was written by our colleagues from French-speaking Switzerland and we translated it for you.
What remains is a film that promised an unprecedented insight into Melania Trump’s everyday life, more precisely into the twenty days before the Maga guru’s second inauguration.
And the tension is at its peak:
“With this film I want to show the American people my career. […] I live every day driven by purpose and dedication, orchestrating the complexities of my life.”
Here is the full quote in the original language, as there is no translation of the vague and superficial one insignificance ambiguity:
«With this film, I want to show the American people my journey: the transition from a private citizen to the First Lady. Every day, I live with purpose and devotion, orchestrating the complexities of my life while nurturing my family’s needs.”
First, the choice of words. Since a “Journey” is a long, adventurous journey full of twists and turns and extraordinary events – an odyssey, one might say – one hopes (with naivety) to lift the veil on this famous “complexity” of the role of the American First Lady alongside a controversial figure like Donald Trump. (And let’s save ourselves an autopsy of the brilliantly chosen verb “orchestrate.”)
Spoiler? Warm up your funny bones.And your jaw for biting the edge of the table.
An insight that no one wanted
After a drone shot of her Mar-a-Lago estate, we are tortured for eight endless, megalomaniacal minutes as we watch Melania travel from Palm Beach to Trump Tower in New York. Slow-motion shots, hair twirls, close-ups of heels, bows and flattery from the staff, an excess of gold and a spectacle that borders on parody. The whole thing is accompanied by the sounds of “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones and “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, their “favorite artist”.
Even beauty product advertising executives have come to realize that this kind of artificial exaggeration is just ridiculous.
However, this introduction has a decisive advantage: it is clear from the start that it will not go much deeper. And that makes them quite amusing. Melania Trump doesn’t care one bit for her husband’s everyday life or for politics in general. Even her role as First Lady seems primarily to get in the way of her all-consuming passion for napkins, expensive clothes, and her own reflection.
Much of the film focuses on the preparations for the inauguration and consists mainly of long debates about the making of the coat with the stylist in charge, the French Hervé Pierre.
«She is a model. She knows what she wants. We speak the same language.”
Stylist Hervé Pierre
Donald Trump is very rarely seen on screen, aside from staged moments in his honor and a scene by the refrigerator at 2 a.m. The best scene, which is unfortunately already revealed in the trailer, is the moment in which Melania her complete lack of interest in her husband’s re-election admits and confesses to him on the phone that she didn’t follow anything on election day.
“Melania” comes across as an advertisement for an abysmal emptiness, as we are deprived of the true everyday reality of the First Lady.
The mystery of the millions
We don’t learn anything new, and above all we wonder where it is gigantic budget of 75 million dollars has remained. The image is flawless to the point of obsession; Mrs. Trump received $40 million, and one can imagine that the royalties for the Rolling Stones’ music weren’t exactly a bargain. And the rest?
A spectacle to watch with friends to laugh quietly and loudly about this incredible gap between Palm Beach and the White House.
(additions from July)
And this is what happens with Donald Trump: