Did Karoline Leavitt say the Melania Trump movie sold more tickets than Star Wars? No, that's not true: The creator of the post stated that they made it up as satire. The White House press secretary did not say the movie about President Donald Trump's wife sold more tickets than Star Wars.
The claim appeared as a February 1, 2026, post on Facebook account @JamesSchlarmann (archived here). It opened with the caption, "I was not aware." The text in the image mocked a Fox News broadcast and chyron that read:
LEAVITT: "THE FIRST LADY'S MOVIE SOLD MORE TICKETS THAN STAR WARS."
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook.com/JamesSchlarmann.)
The same Facebook account posted a follow-up message (archived here) the next day, Feb. 2, 2026, using the same image and the caption, "Sure it's my satire. But they believe it. I'm sure." This screenshot shows the new message:
(Source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook.com/JamesSchlarmann.)
The post was taken seriously on several social media accounts on Threads (archived here) and Bluesky (archived here).
Had Leavitt made such a statement it would be major news. A Lead Stories search of Google and Yahoo! News (archived here) found no matching news articles with the quote. A search of the White House website (archived here) for "Melania Trump movie" did not find any matching results about her new documentary or Leavitt making the Star Wars remark about the film, as this screenshot shows:
(Source: Lead Stories screenshot of White House website.)
The movie beat box office expectations for documentary films, earning $7 million in its opening weekend, NBC News reported (archived here).
