Kristi Noem reportedly skipped the black carpet at Melania Trump’s film premiere, shortly after the president sidelined her at the first Cabinet meeting of the year.
Citing a source at the Thursday evening Kennedy Center event, CNN reported that the Homeland Security Secretary skipped a dramatic entrance. Despite passing on the photo opp, Noem still attended the screening for the First Lady’s film Melania, which documents the 20 days leading up to her husband’s return to the White House.
Noem’s low-profile appearance came as she faces growing bipartisan criticism over the fatal federal law enforcement shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse who was killed on Jan. 24. He was the second American killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in this month.
The Department of Homeland Security initially described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who posed a threat to law-enforcement officers, despite there being lack of evidence to back up those claims.
Other members of the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and the first lady’s father, Viktor Knavs, appeared on the black carpet.
Barron Trump, 19, did not join his mother for the premiere at the Kennedy Center, the New York Post reported.
Earlier Thursday, President Donald Trump appeared to skip over Noem during a Cabinet meeting, instead focusing his attention on Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who also appeared on the Melania carpet. Noem didn’t appear to be able to contain her disappointment; she looked visibly unhappy and was seen giving Loeffler the side eye.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House and DHS for comment.
Trump secured a reported $40 million deal with Amazon MGM Studios for Melania, along with an additional $35 million marketing budget, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
“I’m very proud of the film so people may like it, may don’t like it, and that’s their choice,” the first lady told CNN. “We achieved what we want to achieve. For myself, it’s already successful. I’m very proud of what we did.”
The film is scheduled to open on roughly 1,500 screens nationwide beginning Friday and is expected to earn $5 million at the box office.
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