Trump speaks warmly about his wife of 20 years at premiere, then struggles to remember basic fact about where she was born

President Donald Trump attended the world premiere of the documentary Melania and spoke enthusiastically about his wife’s journey. However, when asked about the film, he struggled to recall which country the first lady was born in. After 20 years of marriage, this seemed like a surprising detail to forget.

When reporters asked how he felt about Melania making the film, for which she was reportedly paid $28 million, Trump said he was “proud” of her because of where she came from. But when it came time to name the country, he gave a vague description instead.

According to Unilad, the president said his wife comes from a “faraway country, a wonderful country, clean, beautiful, safe.” He added that her homeland “doesn’t have problems like others have. But she comes from a very safe country, very good country.” He couldn’t name the exact location but made it sound like an excellent place.

Trump’s glowing praise couldn’t hide an awkward gap in basic knowledge

Trump also spoke warmly about Melania’s intelligence and language skills. He said, “It’s different, and she speaks a lot of languages, very smart, understands what happens. And she’s a good influencer, of me.” Many people watching the event quickly noticed the president’s mistake. Comments online included “he has no idea what country his wife is from” and “he forgot where his wife is from…didn’t he? lol.” This was especially surprising given how much public attention the family receives.

For those who need a reminder, the first lady was born in 1970 in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After dictator Tito died and the USSR fell, that region became Slovenia. Melania started modeling at 16 and used her success to leave the Balkans in 1996, moving to the United States on a modeling contract. She met Donald Trump two years later.

The premiere was held at the newly renamed Trump Kennedy Center on Thursday night. However, some important family members were missing. Melania’s son Barron was not there, and neither were Trump’s other children: Ivana, Eric, and Ivanka.

The documentary Melania shows the first lady in 2025 as she prepares for another four years in the White House. The distributor paid $40 million to get the film, which started showing globally on January 30. Early reports suggest the expensive project might fail at the box office, with the documentary’s disastrous box office performance forcing unusual promotional tactics.

Despite disappointing early bookings, Melania defended the film, saying, “I’m very proud of the film so people may like it, may don’t like it, and that’s their choice. We achieved what we want to achieve. For myself, it’s already successful. I’m very proud of what we did.” The film’s struggles weren’t limited to the US, as Amazon’s UK promotion sold only one ticket despite spending millions on marketing.