First lady Melania Trump on Tuesday called on Americans to unify in the wake of the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal law enforcement and widespread protests in Minneapolis this month.
“We need to unify. I’m calling for unity. I know my husband, the president, had a great call yesterday with the governor and the mayor, and they’re working together to make it peaceful and without riots,” Trump told Fox News.
It has been rare for the first lady to address current events during President Donald Trump’s second term, but she appeared on Fox News from the White House ahead of the Friday release of her eponymous documentary — marking her first on-camera interview since the 2024 presidential transition.
The federal law enforcement killing of Alex Pretti has struck a chord with many Americans, including longtime allies of the president, with lawmakers, conservative media personalities and even the National Rifle Association pushing back on the administration’s rhetoric. That has led to a significant shift in tone and strategy from the White House as it seeks to distance the president from those remarks.
“I’m against the violence,” Melania Trump said Tuesday morning. “So if, please if you protest, protest in peace, and we need to unify in these times.”
After taking a relatively low-key approach to the start of her second term — spending the majority of her time in Florida and New York — the first lady has steadily scaled up her public appearances in the months ahead of her documentary’s release.
Trump will ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday and will attend a premiere at the Kennedy Center, which the president now calls the Trump Kennedy Center, with her husband on Thursday evening.
As chaotic scenes played out in Minnesota on Saturday, the White House hosted a private screening of the documentary for a small group — including Apple CEO Tim Cook, boxer Mike Tyson and Queen Rania of Jordan. Guests munched on popcorn in boxes emblazoned with “Melania” and listened to a waltz from the film’s score.
It all sets up a major test for Amazon MGM Studios, which has spent a whopping $35 million promoting the film, plus the roughly $40 million deal it struck with Trump, underscoring its recognition of the public’s curiosity about the notoriously private first lady.
The documentary chronicles the 20 days leading into Trump’s return to the White House — and her relationship with her husband.
“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,” she told Fox News when asked how involved she was in the president’s day-to-day.
Trump also weighed in on the choice of ending the film’s trailer with a scene showing a phone call between the first lady and the president. “Hi, Mr. President. Congratulations,” Melania Trump says in the scene, as she looks out at the Manhattan skyline.
On the other end of the phone, her husband asks, “Did you watch it?”
“I did not. Yeah. I will see it on the news,” the first lady responds.
She told Fox News that she was “very involved” in “leading the production and choosing the trailer,” adding she wanted to show audiences they will see the “private communications between me and my husband.”
The president, she said, “loved” the film, which he first saw during the private screening Saturday evening. Her son, Barron Trump, “liked it, too.” Her stepchildren haven’t seen it yet but will soon, she added.
The film, she said, chronicles “many different emotions: humor, sadness, grief.”
