Podcast Summary: The Opinions – “Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada on the Empty Propaganda of ‘Melania’”

Date: February 5, 2026
Host: Nadja Spiegelman (Editor, NYT Opinion)
Guests: Maureen Dowd (Columnist), Carlos Lozada (Columnist)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Nadja Spiegelman sits down with New York Times columnists Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada to dissect Melania, a controversial new documentary (funded by Amazon and produced by Melania Trump) chronicling her final 20 days before Donald Trump’s second inauguration in 2025. The panel explores the film's style, substance—or lack thereof—and discusses its implications as a work of propaganda, the nature of Melania’s public persona, and the political and cultural context into which it lands.

Theater Experiences & First Impressions

Sparse, Journalist-heavy Audiences

• [01:44] Maureen describes attending a screening in D.C. nearly empty save for other journalists, joking: “So finally one of the journalists, this guy, stands up in the back of the theater and goes, are there any civilians here, wanted to interview someone?”
• She adds she brought her Trump-voting Republican sister “because that way I knew that there was a group of older white women who were gonna love this movie.”

Carlos’s Double Viewing

• [02:46] Carlos saw the film twice: first surrounded by “Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Atlantic, CNN” types; second, among “civilians” in suburban Maryland, mostly older women: “People seemed to be enjoying themselves…So there's certainly an audience for the movie.”

Melania: Perceptions Before & After

Maureen’s Early Encounters

• [04:01] Recalling Trump’s 1999 Miami trip, Maureen once viewed Melania as sly and “in on the joke” (“She was laughing about how they had outfitted her Calvin Klein to look like a politician's girlfriend…she wasn’t gonna give up her stilettos.”).
• This slyness and sense of fun were “totally absent in this film.”

Myth of the ‘Secret Resistance’

• [05:05] Nadja observes, “We all have this fantasy…that could, like, be a secret resistance…”
• Maureen retorts, “Liberals have always fantasized about that, but I always thought that was silly…She is very comfortable in this vertical solitude of the gilded world that he has set her in.”

The Movie Itself: Content, Form, and Narrative

Narrow Focus, Curated Access

Carlos’s Synopsis

• [06:04] The film covers only the 20 days leading up to Trump’s (second) inauguration—primarily Melania’s preparation for official events. “You never see her really talking to, say, Barron. You never see her talking to a friend…it’s a kind of a lonely existence, but yet one that she seems to enjoy.”

Role of Amazon & Motives

Commercial & Political Ties

• [08:28] Maureen details: “Amazon gave $40 million to make the movie and another $35 million to promote it. Out of that, Melania pockets $28 million…a way for Jeff Bezos to curry favor.”
• Memorable moment: “[There’s a] scene in the movie where…she has this paean to how great their donors are…they pan past Bezos and Lauren Sanchez and all the other lords of the cloud who have bought American government in this blatant way.”

Is it Propaganda? And What Kind?

Emptiness of Messaging

No Subtlety, No Depth

• [09:50] Maureen: “[Melania’s] world, Donald Trump is a unifier and promotes dignity and compassion…while in the split screen…ICE agents shoot people in the face in their cars. It’s absurd propaganda the way his is.”
• [10:42] Carlos: “Propaganda tells you two things. It tells you how people wish to be perceived and it tells you what they think of us, what they think of the audience…Melania speaks in these almost like ChatGPT-generated voiceovers…”
• He cites one: “Every day I live with purpose and devotion, orchestrating the complexities of my life while nurturing my family's needs.”
• “That doesn’t tell you anything…these are just generic, empty political words.”

Observation on the Trump–Melania Approach

• [13:13] Carlos: “It’s not that [Trump] doesn’t want to say he's a unifier…it’s that he doesn’t want it to be seen that she’s telling him what to say…they both feel that sort of the power of repetition, simply saying something will make it seem truer than it is.”

Lack of Authenticity

• Nadja: “It’s one of the only minutes of footage in this film that doesn’t feel perfectly preplanned and pre-scripted.” (13:36)

The Portrait

• [18:08] Maureen recalls Ivanka’s nickname for Melania: “the Portrait”—“it’s like a static kind of portrait of a beautiful woman.”

Style over Substance: Visuals, Music, and Narrative Flatness

Heels & Feet, Surface Obsessions

• [14:44, 15:53] Maureen relays Andre Leon Talley once called Melania “the best moisturized woman he had ever seen…she walks on 5 inch stilettos better than any woman in history.”
• Nadja and Carlos discuss the constant focus on Melania’s feet and heels: [16:02] “You can picture her having feet like Barbie that don’t go flat. Totally.”
• Maureen: “Even on small, superficial things like that, we didn’t get any insights. Yeah, my dad was a police detective…he wouldn’t get my sister a job at the Capitol because he said walking on those marble floors was so painful, you would get varicose veins.”

Narrative Tension (or Lack Thereof)

• [21:21] Nadja observes, “The only setup for narrative tension is whether…the hem of her dress will be perfect by the time inauguration happens…gives us no narrative tension. We’re certain that they will. Everything goes right. Nothing ever goes wrong.”
• Maureen: “It’s only revealing for what it doesn’t reveal. I mean, I just think he [Ratner] got his orders straight, which is she wanted to look gorgeous in every frame and not reveal anything. And that’s what happened.” (21:35)

Odd/Creepy Cultural References

• [19:26] Maureen quips about the film's director: “She brings Brett Ratner out of exile… And he asks who her favorite artist is, and it’s Michael Jackson…are we not gonna have one minute without a predator being mentioned here or directing the movie?”

Fleeting Human Moments, Missed Opportunities

• [35:40] Carlos: “She goes to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York to mark the anniversary of her mother's death…lighting a candle for a loved one who has gone is a relatable moment.”
• [34:08] Maureen, however, notes: “Even in the scene where she goes…she comes out and…she doesn’t look at [the people outside] or talk to them. I mean, it’s as though they don’t exist.”

Political and Social Context

Immigration: Disconnected Rhetoric vs. Reality

• [23:20, 25:27] Maureen: “…here is Melania, the only immigrant Trump likes, in her satin lined cage. And it’s an incredibly unpleasant juxtaposition.”
• Carlos: “As a naturalized American citizen…I was kind of waiting to see if she would say something about this…Later on she says…‘Walking into the Capitol’s rotunda, I felt the weight of history intertwined with my own journey as an immigrant’…It’s also entirely decontextualized from the campaign her husband had just waged…based on…mass deportations against those people who are poisoning the blood of the country, as Trump put it often.”

Reception & the Broader Audience

Why Do People Like This?

• [28:23] Nadja: “The film somehow made $7 million in its first weekend, which is the best opening weekend for a documentary in years.”
• Carlos, re: critics: “One of my earliest emails is a guy named Phil telling me Carlos saw the movie and loved it. I did have a question. Who are you, and why would I care about anything you have to say? Sincerely, Phil…Republicans go to the movies too. Melania is an iconic figure for a lot of people in America.”

Personal Reactions

• [30:18] Maureen: “I think my sister loved it and really enjoyed it and admires her. And I'm sure she's gonna go back and see it again.”

Final Reflections: How Does It Rank as Propaganda?

Mediocrity and Surface

• [31:10] Nadja asks how Melania rates “as a work of propaganda compared to other famous works like Triumph of the Will.”

• Maureen: “…the only thing you’re learning is that she’s onboard with the corruption of taking money like the Trump family. And she looks great in high heels.”
  “Corrupt and looking great doing it.” (32:23–32:25)

• Carlos: “I don’t know that I’d put Ratner in the Leni Riefenstahl category. I’d be surprised if decades from now, we’re still pouring over the Melania movie as a key way to understand this time…Triumph of the Will…was about…the leader projecting strength. Right? This is about a leader-adjacent character projecting softness, reasonableness…yet kind of insidious in its own way…” (32:34–33:33)

Most Accurate Summary

• [35:02] Nadja: “Here is someone who wants to remain the portrait, who wants to remain purely a surface that we never get to see behind.”
• Carlos: “The surface is all there is, right? This movie ends with an extended photo shoot…And then the last thing you see is her name flashing on the screen…there is nothing else.”

Memorable Quotes

• On the emptiness of Melania's narrative:
  “Melania speaks in These almost like ChatGPT-generated voiceovers… I don't know what that means. Right. I don't know what that. That doesn't tell you anything.” (Carlos, 11:40)
• On propaganda:
  “Propaganda tells you how people wish to be perceived and…what they think of the audience.” (Carlos, 10:42)
• On Amazon’s investment:
  “Jeff Bezos… all the other lords of the cloud who have bought American government in this blatant way.” (Maureen, 08:28)
• On the movie’s message:
  “It’s absurd propaganda the way his is.” (Maureen, 09:50)
• On Melania’s persona:
  “It's like a static kind of portrait of a beautiful woman.” (Maureen, 18:08)
• On moral contradictions:
  “Here is Melania, the only immigrant Trump likes, in her satin lined cage.” (Maureen, 23:20)
• On the film’s legacy:
  “The surface is all there is…there is nothing else.” (Carlos, 35:02)
• On the essential critique:
  “Corrupt and looking great doing it.” (Maureen, 32:25)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:44]–[02:46]: Journalists fill empty theaters; audience composition
• [04:01]–[05:47]: Melania’s earlier, sly persona vs. the film’s presentation
• [06:04]–[07:52]: Movie synopsis: 20 days, high curation, no real access
• [08:28]: Amazon’s funding and the politics of access
• [09:50]–[13:36]: Propaganda; empty platitudes, reinforcement by repetition
• [15:53]–[18:08]: Extreme focus on shoes/appearance, Andre Leon Talley anecdote, “the Portrait”
• [19:26]–[21:35]: Michael Jackson, Brett Ratner, narrative flatness
• [23:20]–[25:27]: Immigration contradictions, “the only immigrant Trump likes”
• [28:23]–[31:10]: Audience appeal, box office numbers, reactions
• [31:10]–[35:26]: Propaganda as portrait, historic comparison to “Triumph of the Will”
• [35:26]–[35:40]: Final assessments, focus on surface and power dynamics

Concluding Tone

A mixture of wry cynicism, cultural satire, and critique laced with vivid observation—reflecting both the inanity and insidiousness of image-driven political storytelling.

Summary in a Line:
Melania is meticulously styled, stupefyingly empty, and serves as both a portrait of surface and a document of hollow self-justification—propaganda that “looks great doing it,” but says almost nothing at all.