President Donald Trump joined first lady Melania Trump at the premiere of her self-titled documentary Thursday evening, answering questions from NBC News as they walked into the event.
The president said he would announce his pick for the new chair of the Federal Reserve Friday morning, ending months of speculation about who will succeed Jerome Powell.
“I’ll be announcing the Fed chair tomorrow morning,” Trump told reporters.
“I’ve chosen a very good person,” he said. “I’ll be putting that out tomorrow morning.”
The remarks differed from Trump’s comments earlier in the day at his Cabinet meeting, where he said the announcement would come next week. He had added that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are involved in the decision.
Trump also said he spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook about the escalating violence in Minneapolis, but he said it was “not much of a conversation, other than he said he’d love to see peace, but I want to see peace.” Cook attended a screening of the documentary Saturday at the White House.
Cook said in a memo to employees this week that he was "heartbroken" by the situation in Minneapolis and had "a good conversation" with Trump about it.
"I think, maybe more than anyone, we’ve done a great job," Trump said. "We’ve closed the border. We’ve stopped crimes at an all-time low in the history of our country, and that’s only because we’re taking criminals out. We’re taking some very bad people out of our country."
Trump changed his tone after federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last week, leading to Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino’s removal from the city, to be replaced by border czar Tom Homan.
Trump was also asked about Amazon's move to pay $40 million to acquire the rights to the first lady's documentary, a massive sum for a documentary.
"Well, I think you’d have to go and ask President Obama, who got paid a lot of money and hasn’t done anything," Trump said. "I think you probably have to go because if you take a look at others, they’ve been paid a lot of money."
Barack and Michelle Obama did not sign any media deals while they were in the White House, but they did strike an agreement with Netflix after Obama left office.
The event, which featured a guest list packed with administration appointees and friends of the Trump family, marked the launch of a documentary that has drawn skepticism and criticism. "Melania: Twenty Days to History" was produced by Melania Trump's production company and sold to Amazon MGM Studios. It follows her in the run-up to last year's inauguration.
The first lady told NBC News that the film "belongs to everybody."
"Everybody will connect on a certain level. Teenagers can go to see, young women can go to see and be inspired that they could have a family and business, as well," she said.
Trump praised the film and his wife, saying she has "done a great thing; this is a very important piece of work."
Brett Ratner, the documentary's director, said there would be more content featuring Melania Trump in the months ahead after the film starts streaming on Amazon.
"It’s going to go on streaming in a few months, and then there’s three more episodes of stuff that’s not in the movie," he said. "So it’s a whole new three-part series that’s coming."
Inside the event, water and popcorn were available for attendees. As the Trumps took their seats in a balcony, they were cheered and greeted with chants of "USA."
