Who Are Melania Trump's Biggest Fans? We Asked Them
Who Are Melania Trump's Biggest Fans? We Asked Them
The high cheekbones. The unreadable, steady dead-eyed stare. The iconic oversized hats. That viral White House Christmas photo. For decades, the public has been asking one persistent question: Who is the real Melania Trump?
The former First Lady opens her 2024 memoir with the story of her journey: a 26-year-old model leaving her family in Slovenia to build a new life in the United States. A decade after arriving, she became a naturalized American citizen. “It was not an easy process,” she writes. “And my personal experience dealing with the trials of the immigration process opened my eyes to the difficulties faced by all who wish to become US citizens.”
But what exactly does that framing mean in context? Her husband, Donald Trump, made harsh immigration enforcement the centerpiece of his domestic agenda during both of his presidential terms. That context is why I was genuinely curious to watch Melania, the new documentary that Amazon acquired for $40 million and backed with an additional $35 million marketing budget. The film’s director, Brett Ratner—who has previously been accused of sexual misconduct by six different women—recently reentered the news cycle after appearing in a newly released batch of Jeffrey Epstein court documents. (Ratner has repeatedly denied all sexual misconduct allegations.)
What is Melania really like behind closed doors? The trailer, a masterclass in carefully crafted editing, reveals almost nothing beyond teasing that the former First Lady may have skipped her husband’s inauguration (she ultimately did attend, of course).
It turns out I am far from the only person eager to see the film. While a WIRED analysis found just two movie theaters sold out all opening day screenings, local Republican groups across the country organized group viewing parties to support the documentary, helping it pull in roughly $7 million in opening weekend ticket sales. WIRED reporters attended two of these events, one in Florida and one in California, to ask attendees what draws them to Melania Trump, what they think of her recent push around artificial intelligence, and what they hope to learn about her from the film.
All interviews below have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Darlene Lauzurique
Q: Immigration is leading the news right now, and Melania was born in Slovenia. What do you think the media gets right and wrong about the Trumps’ attitudes toward immigration?
Oh, this is a deeply personal topic for me. I’m an immigrant too, just like Melania. But I came here legally, and I followed every rule to get in. I truly believe this country opens opportunities for other immigrants to build lives, start businesses, and chase the American dream— I’m living proof of that. I own my own business, my property is paid off, I have investments, and all that. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but that’s the truth. But everything has to go by the book, by the law. Law and order, that’s it.
Q: What are you most excited to see revealed in the film?
I want to see the Melania that nobody else gets to see.
Julio César Enriquez
Q: What made you fall in love with Melania Trump?
She embodies the five core virtues of a successful woman. Melania is prudent, sincere, elegant, she never forgets her origins which speaks to her character, and she’s a perfect partner to a great leader.
Q: Where do you think she’s had the biggest impact as First Lady?
Her ability to speak up when she disagrees with decisions, without ever getting into public controversy with her husband—that’s a really important balance. She’s always by his side, supporting him, accompanying him, while still pushing forward her own meaningful social agenda.
Ozzy Perez
Q: Where do you think Melania has had the biggest impact as First Lady?
Her support for the military. I’m a veteran, so I respect that more than I can say. She has an incredible, genuine love for the military. And she’s a naturalized citizen—she wasn’t born here. That makes it even more impressive to me.
Q: When did you serve?
I served from 2002 to 2007. I signed up the day after 9/11.
Q: Cool. Did you deploy?
I was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was there for the initial invasion in 2003 and 2004, then the battle of Fallujah in 2004 and 2005, then operations in Haditha in 2005 and 2006. It was back-to-back-to-back deployments. I missed three Christmases in a row, and I missed both of my kids’ births. It was a crazy time. The operational tempo was out of control.
Millie Fresen
Q: What do you love most about Melania?
Everything. I love her. She’s classy. She’s the most beautiful First Lady we’ve ever had. She’s very intelligent. I just… I love her.
Q: Where do you think she’s had the biggest impact as First Lady?
Being married to Donald Trump.
Q: Mrs. Trump is promoting AI in life and in schools. Do you agree with her that artificial intelligence opens up the imagination?
Yes.
Q: Do you use AI in your own life?
No, I don’t use it because I’m 82 years old. But for my kids and grandkids, I love it.
Q: Immigration is leading the news, and Mrs. Trump was born in Slovenia. What do you think the media gets right and wrong about the Trumps’ attitudes toward immigration?
All the media is wrong about immigration. I am Cuban, so I’m an immigrant, but I am a legal immigrant. I came with permission to be here, and that's what I believe. Legal immigration.
Steven Befera
Q: What do you love most about Melania?
I like her style and the fact that she always carries herself well and is very well-spoken. As an immigrant and a model, she gets all these “dumb blonde” preconceptions thrown at her, but she's really very smart and has a good heart.
Q: Where do you think she’s had the biggest impact as First Lady?
If you look at Melania, she lives her own life. She's not totally defined by being in the White House. She's got a life in New York, her son goes to NYU, she has other interests beyond her role as First Lady. So I think the fact that she could do her work in the White House while still keeping her own independent life is unprecedented, really, when you look at past First Ladies.
Noli Zaldivar
Q: What do you love most about Melania?
She is a strong woman. I love that she doesn't need anybody's approval. She truly just stands on her own, stands by her beliefs. There's so much criticism around her because she's not your cookie-cutter First Lady. She's not the traditional older First Lady type, she's not out running around trying to people-please, smile, and be super friendly. I love that she's true to herself. She's got this incredible inner strength.
Q: Where do you think she’s had the biggest impact as First Lady?
I think her biggest impact has been on work for children, fighting hunger, and supporting kids who need education and stable homes.
She has a very tough exterior. If you were married to Donald Trump, I mean, he's a very tough guy to be married to. You need to have a tough exterior because so much negativity is thrown at you both all the time. That's just who she is. She's tough on the outside, but she's got an amazing heart inside.
Q: What are you excited to see revealed in the movie?
I really just want to see her perspective on all the chaos, because I think [Donald Trump] loves the madness. I think he's lived his life in this limelight. I don't see her like that, so I'm interested in seeing what her perspective is, dealing with all the photographers, all the people, the rumors, and the constant talking.
Lilly Perez
Q: Where do you think she’s had the biggest impact as First Lady?
As First Lady, especially this second term, it's that she cares about kids and she's helped a lot of children be released from Russia to Ukraine. She organized multiple flights for that work.
Q: Mrs. Trump is promoting AI in life and in schools. Do you agree that AI unlocks the imagination?
Well, there's a lot of people that are afraid of losing their jobs. But in the end it's going to help a lot of people to do things faster. So we have to wait until it develops.
Q: What do you think the media gets right and wrong about the Trumps’ attitudes toward immigration?
Sometimes he tells jokes and then they take it seriously. So they don't understand him, really. I was a political prisoner in Cuba. So I suffered a lot under communists. So I'm 100 percent backing him and Marco Rubio, to get rid of the communists in Cuba.
Marianela Joli and Mayra Joli
Q: What do you love most about Melania?
Mayra Joli: That she knows what it’s like to raise a family. She knows what it means to be a woman and a wife. And sometimes she knows to turn a deaf ear to people who don’t spread proper or accurate information about her.
Q: Where do you think she’s had the biggest impact as First Lady?
Mayra Joli: She has elegance. She knows how to speak, how to command a whole stage and communicate properly. And besides that, she’s a super intelligent woman. She doesn't just speak one language—she speaks more than four.
She’s from Slovenia, right? She’s an immigrant.
Mayra Joli: She’s an immigrant, just like me.
Q: Where are you from?
Mayra Joli: I’m from the Dominican Republic.
Q: Your sister mentioned how well she presents herself…
Marianela Joli: You’re a lady, I’m a lady. And there are women who don’t behave like ladies—they behave like anything. But a lady is class, it shows in how you dress, how you carry yourself, how you walk. A woman who respects herself. And as a mother, she’s excellent. Excellent. Otherwise her son wouldn’t be who he is today.
Madeline Abernathy, member of Kern County Young Republicans
Q: Where do you think Melania has had the biggest impact as First Lady?
I was a little bit hesitant about what she would do ahead of the first election—we didn't really know too much about her. And after she came on as the First Lady, the second time, I feel like we've learned more. She has different initiatives that she's coming out with: AI, technology, and work for children as well. Her big passion for foster care and AI in science is very important.
Q: Do you use AI in your own life?
Yes.
Q: ChatGPT, or … ?
Yes, ChatGPT mainly. If there's different types of bills or legislation or rules, regulations in oil and gas, I use it to research it more in depth and get clear explanations.
Jared Vegas, administrative vice chair of Kern County Young Republicans
Q: What do you love most about Melania?
I'm going to be honest, I don't know a ton about the First Lady. That's why I'm really excited to see this movie, just to learn more about her. The biggest thing that I think of when I think of her is that we're not against all immigration in this country. We're against illegal immigration, and she immigrated here legally and followed the process.
I think that's a good dynamic to have when our president is constantly painted right now as the guy who's just deporting everybody. It's like, well, no, he's not against legal immigration. His wife wouldn't be here if he was against legal immigration. He's only against illegal immigration. So I like that aspect of it. I think it's a good symbol.
Q: Describe her in three words.
Calculated. She calculates everything. She's calculated. Intelligent. And I guess beautiful. I mean, she's got to be the prettiest First Lady we've ever had.
Q: Was there a particular moment that stands out to you about her, that shaped your view of her?
I don't know if it's really a particular moment per se. It's more like every time I've seen her in public or heard her speak, she's just very graceful and respectful to everybody she talks to. Her husband, who I like in many ways, can sometimes be disrespectful. But I've never seen a moment where she's very blatantly disrespectful to those around her.
Q: The First Lady has talked a lot about AI recently. Do you use AI in your own life?
Oh yeah, all the time. I work as a sales guy at my main job, at a perimeter security company. We sell electrified security fencing to businesses to protect them from criminals that come in and steal their stuff.
So the thing is, there are so many people I talk to throughout the day, because I'm going into businesses and talking to owners and I'm looking at the sites. And obviously there's a lot of things I have to remember. After I finish a meeting, I walk out and I take rough notes on everything. And then I use AI to clean them up, to complete sentences, to make it make sense. It's a super helpful tool in my day-to-day.
Q: What do you think the media gets wrong about the Trumps’ views on immigration?
Well, I think the media often tries to victimize criminal behavior, in the sense that they want to feel bad for people because they come from such hard countries, and then say, “Oh, well, then that justifies the bad behavior to get here,” like in the sense of breaking the law. And Trump's very, very clear on this. Look, if you come here illegally, that in and of itself is a crime and justifies deportation.
That being said, there are some people that are more dangerous to our current society that not only broke the law of coming into the country illegally but also committing other heinous crimes. So let's focus on those people primarily, which has been the primary focus of the Trump administration. Have they gotten other people? Sure. But is the primary focus those that are breaking multiple laws? Yes.
Addy Eggers and Sarah Fanucchi
Q: What do you think has been Melania’s biggest impact as First Lady?
Addy: She's just been such a good supporter of Trump. She's supported all the things that he's put into action, all the things with ICE. She's just been there through it all, supporting him. And I think that's the main role of a First Lady, to be there for the president.
Q: Describe her in three words.
Sarah: Stylish, humble, and down-to-earth.
Q: Melania has been promoting the adoption of artificial intelligence, including in schools. Do you think she's right that AI can unlock the imagination?
Addy: I think with the use of AI, now that it's been invented and now that it's being used, we have to adapt to it. There's no way to get around it. I think it can be super helpful. I think it can make processes quicker. But I do agree that if it’s overused, then obviously there's an issue that's a little scary.
Q: Do you guys use AI?
Sarah: I do, yeah.
Addy: I'm in college right now, of course I use AI. What college student doesn't use AI? Literally that's how I'm getting most of my assignments structured because it's to the point, it's quick. It's not like I'm cheating with it, but it's more so like I'm using it to actually help me learn and create ways for me to learn. Right now it created an outline for me to write an essay, which is helpful.
Q: Immigration obviously is a big issue in the news right now. And Melania was born in Slovenia. What do you think the media is getting right or wrong about President Trump's attitude towards the issue?
They seem to think that he hates immigrants, that he wants them all gone. But it's very obvious that he means the illegals, the ones that are doing harm. And if there were people that came here legally and they came here to work, they came here the right way, he wouldn't mind. It's all about following the protocol, following the rules. [Editors: Even before the 2026 crackdown, individuals with no criminal convictions reportedly made up two-thirds of the people being deported through the first half of last year.]
Cathy Abernathy (who attended the premiere with her friend, Donna Hylton)
Q: Where do you feel Melania’s had the biggest impact as a First Lady?
Well, when I say she carries herself well, I don't mean physical, although she does that too. But she has a presence, considering her husband is quite a larger-than-life figure, right? Intelligent, speaks seven foreign languages. I don't know about how many people in this country can do that. And she's got initiatives that she's running herself. She's not just holding teas in the White House, she's actually out there in the community and helping children.
Q: Describe her in three words.
I was going to say tall, dark, and handsome as a joke. Well, smart, beautiful, and warm.
As a mother I relate to her because of her experience being both First Lady and also raising her son in the White House. You know how difficult it is when you have teenagers. They have a mind of their own and they're going to do what they want. No matter what Mom says or Dad, and your dad's the president of the United States!
Q: This might be a hot button topic, but immigration is obviously in the news right now, and Mrs. Trump is born in Slovenia. What do you think the media is getting right or wrong about the Trumps’ attitude towards immigration?
My family's Armenian, we all came legally. But we don't support criminals. And if they're criminals, either native-born Americans or from a foreign country and came here illegally, we got to get them out. Because it's not only dangerous, but they broke the law getting here.
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