President Donald Trump once again made himself the main character — even while praising his wife. During a recent speech, he showered the first lady, Melania, with lavish compliments and praised her success, but the admiration quickly took a detour. In classic fashion, Trump pivoted from celeb rating her to centering himself, delivering a remark that felt less like support and more like a subtle reminder of who he believes truly holds the power. Donald Trump made a backhanded compliment about the first lady, Melania Trump, during a White House dinner. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) ‘She Knew’: Trump Veers from Teleprompters to Escalators, and One Comment Has People Saying He’s Still Seething After ‘Melania Didn’t Save Him In a clip from his speech at the Governor’s Dinner held on Feb 21, Trump, 79, stood at the podium at the White House as he praised the first lady and her hard work on the foster care initiative. Before making another backhanded insult about the Democratic and Republican state governors and political leaders seated in the East Room, he mentioned his wife to the crowd. ‘Now I can say my movie star wife. Do you believe this?” said Trump before adding, “I have to live with now another title.” The room burst into laughter, likely at Melania’s expense, as heard in the video. The former reality star went on to claim Melania had asked about the evening earlier in the day, wondering, “about the group” they were meeting with for dinner. Trump described the room of governors as people who, “wake up and say, ‘I should be president, not him.'” Unfortunately, no one cared for his slight jab at the room, which also received laughs, and many shut down Trump’s lies about his wife and her movie online. “Her movie was a huge flop, get your information right,” said one Instagram user. Another laughed, “Hahhhahaha. My movie star wife. He is a mess.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @trump.family_usa A third warned, "Stop lying, your wife isn’t a movie star, they aren’t your friend, but bet the majority agree you shouldn’t be president!" His ego knows no bounds Melania was in the room when Trump mentioned her, but cameras missed her reaction, leading some to speculate it was due to outrage over her outfit. While Trump sported a classic black tuxedo, Melania faced heavy criticism for her look—a black blouse ending at her hips paired with shiny silver Dolce Gabbana pants. Many deemed her choice completely inappropriate for a black-tie event, sparking heated discussions about her fashion choices as first lady. Trump has been referring to Melania as his personal "movie star" for weeks since the release of her self-titled documentary. During a bill signing in the Oval Office on Feb. 3, he began reading a prepared statement before he noticed Melania's name. “I am extremely pleased to announce that this bill includes a newly designated — Oh, wow. Movie star, Melania Trump,” the president uttered as his mind seemingly flashed to the recently released “Melania” documentary. The Brett Ratner-directed feature film covering Melania, 55, arrived in North American theaters on Jan. 30 to horrible reviews from professional movie critics. “Melania” grossed $7.1 million in its opening weekend, a large stretch from the $40 million invested in the film by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. That total was enough for “Melania” to finish in third place in the box office race behind “Send Help” ($19.1 million) and “Iron Lung” ($17.8 million). According to Deadline, Melania’s documentary had the biggest opening for a nonfiction feature in the last decade.  Instead of touting the movie’s actual achievements, Trump exaggerated its success during his White House signing before rambling about not receiving any benefits from the first lady’s accomplishment. “So, it's the No. 1 documentary in 19 years,” Trump wrongfully stated. “Can you believe this? What do I get out of it? I get nothing out of it. So I had a top model, now I have a top movie star, but we have a great first lady.” Trump’s comments about Melania’s documentary were not only misleading but also self-centered, generating significant backlash for his backhanded compliment about his wife. "She’s nowhere close to being a 'top model,'" said one person. Another post that mentioned his ability to frequently make things about himself, read, “He's lying to hype his wife. That's what a husband does. But it's Trump, so he had to make it about him. That's so f----g sad." Focusing on Trump's speech during his lies, one observer noticed, "He is out of his MF mind!" Trump’s history of stretching the truth has badly hurt his credibility when claiming “Melania” is the most successful documentary since 2007. Despite coming off as an envious husband to many observers, Trump was by Melania’s side for a private screening of the film at the White House on Jan. 24. Celebrities such as professional boxing legend Mike Tyson showed up for the black-tie affair as well. Holy shit. Tonight is the premiere of Melania and the photographer basically just asked Trump to get the f*ck out of the picture:PHOTOGRAPHER: “Mrs. Trump…SOLO, thank you Mrs. Trump.”He doesn’t look happy to me. pic.twitter.com/CK6mtJYkRV— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) January 30, 2026 “Melania” then officially premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Jan. 29 before being available in theaters nationwide the following day. The event, which included an appearance by MAGA-loving rap star Nicki Minaj, took place just three days before Trump announced the temporary closure of the landmark venue. Amazon MGM Studios reportedly paid $45 million to license the rights to “Melania” and spent an additional $30 million to market the film. The domestic haul of $7 million greatly outweighed the international total of just $75,000. The first lady’s vanity project has to sell a ton more tickets to recoup that suspected $75 million budget, but Amazon has been widely accused of only shelling out the money to get into the Trump administration's good graces to ensure future U.S. policy decisions that are favorable to the multinational corporation. ‘His Ego Knows No Bounds’: Trump’s Melania Shoutout Sours Fast as He Snatches the Spotlight Back with a Backhanded Compliment to Her Face ...read more read less