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Shocking Ratings Show What America Really Thinks Of Melania Trump
The people of America have spoken and revealed what they really think of First Lady Melania Trump.
In the first week of February 2026, YouGov asked Americans to rank 11 first ladies from a scale of ‘outstanding’ to ‘poor.’
The results reflected that American adults might not be as divided on Melania as they are on her husband, President Donald Trump.
Who was Melania before Donald Trump
Before she met the billionaire and soon-to-be President Trump, Melania had dreams of pursuing an international fashion career.
She had humble beginnings, growing up in state-funded apartment housing in the small town of Sevnica in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia).
Throughout her childhood, she was known as Melanija Knavs, but after being scouted by a photographer at the age of 16, she began traveling Europe working as a model.
She soon changed her name to Melania Knauss and eventually moved to New York City in 1996, where she met her future husband at a party in Manhattan a few years later.
Despite Trump being 24 years her senior, the couple married in 2005, and Melania soon gave birth to their son, Barron, the following year.
Trump’s first term
When Trump first ran for President in 2016, Melania didn’t hide her disinterest in the idea of being first lady.
In fact, she reportedly burst into tears when she realized he was going to win the 2016 election.
This came as no surprise, after a friend of the Trump family revealed that Melania didn’t want to be first lady ‘come hell or high water.’
Yet as President Trump’s first term unraveled, she seemed to slightly embrace her new position, starting her own campaign for anti-cyberbullying after stating: “I could say that I’m the most bullied person in the world.”
But this benevolent campaign soon fizzled out, perhaps because it clashed a bit too much with her husband’s ruthless tweeting hobby.
Trump returning – was Melania happy about it?
According to her friends, Melania was even less keen for Trump to be re-elected in 2024.
“Being first lady again is not what she wants,” one of her close friends admitted to CNN. “For her, it was a chapter – and it’s over, and that’s that.”
Supposedly, Melania prefers a private life away from the public eye, say her friends, which is why she’s rarely seen at Trump’s campaigns and events.
For this term, she’s said to be taking a step back from being a full-time first lady – and instead is dividing her time between being the President’s spouse and a ‘hands-on mother’ to her son, Barron.
Melania’s movie
Despite Melania apparently disliking being in the public eye, she’s been all over screens since her documentary came out.
In Melania, we follow the first lady’s daily activities for 20 days in January 2025, as her husband prepares to return to the White House after winning the 2024 US presidential election.
The movie, directed by Brett Ratner, was reportedly the most expensive documentary to ever be made, costing a total of $75 million.
Melania: 20 Days of History was shown in cinemas across the world – but the reviews weren’t exactly kind.
Xan Brooks (The Guardian) labeled it as ‘dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing,’ while Joy Press (Vanity Fair) wrote ‘all the money in the world can’t make good propaganda.’
The wider public didn’t seem too impressed either, with the documentary earning ratings of 1.4/10 on IMDb and 1.1/5 on Letterboxd.
Throughout the 104 minutes, Melania is painted as ‘doing what no First Lady has done before – and doing it better, grander, and on a bigger scale.’
It’s worth noting that her lavish lifestyle has proved entertaining for some audiences, with a score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter.
Clearly, Mrs. Trump shares the marmite quality that her other half is notorious for.
What do ratings say about her husband?
It’s fair to say that Trump has been one of the most contentious presidents to date.
And while Melania’s documentary was clearly an attempt to shine a more positive, relatable light onto the Trump family, it might be a bigger challenge than they expect.
Since Trump returned to the presidential office, his actions have been met with concern.
His past 12 months have included disputes with NATO allies and giving ICE agents free rein to threaten and, notably, kill American citizens in broad daylight.
In January 2026, an AP-NORC poll found that just four in 10 US adults were happy with Trump’s performance this term.
The poll also showed that 59% of American adults disapproved of the way he was running the country.
However, the POTUS responded to the unsteady ratings in classic Trump fashion, saying the polls were fake and were spreading misinformation.
Melania’s ratings
Mrs. Trump has faced ratings that are even less favorable.
In a poll from the first week of February 2026, Melania was voted the second least popular of the 11 recent first ladies.
Receiving a plummeting -16 net rating, Melania was only beaten to the spot of the most-disliked first lady by Hillary Clinton, the wife of Bill Clinton and a previous presidential candidate, who received a net rating of -17 points.
In the 2026 rating, 36% of people said Melania was ‘poor,’ with 10% more voting ‘below average.’
But maybe the documentary was worth the millions of dollars, because the first lady’s ranking has actually improved slightly.
Back in 2023, YouGov’s poll revealed that 39% regarded her as ‘poor’ or ‘below average,’ which suggests the documentary may have contributed to a modest shift in public perceptions following the multi-million-dollar production.
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