After a $35 million marketing campaign, Amazon’s new Melania Trump documentary is having a premiere at the Kennedy Center on Thursday night, attended by a roster of right-wing influencers, Republican elected officials and members of President Trump’s cabinet.
It is not the first premiere for “Melania,” which was directed by the onetime Hollywood A-lister Brett Ratner. Last weekend, Mrs. Trump hosted a small screening at the White House, drawing a crowd that included Mike Tyson, Queen Rania of Jordan and several heads of tech companies.
Some attendees at that screening — including Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook — were criticized for going to a glittering party the same day that Alex Pretti, a nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
The film, which is being released exclusively in theaters on Friday, follows the first lady in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. Mrs. Trump’s production company was paid $40 million for the rights to “Melania” — an eye-popping figure for a documentary that critics have suggested could be an attempt by Amazon to curry favor with the Trump administration.
For a president who prizes loyalty, being invited to — and attending — a social event like this can offer insight into the power dynamics in President Trump’s Washington.
Jesse McKinley contributed reporting.
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