“The Trump I Know” is a Matthew Thayer film produced by Wolf Rock Pictures in conjunction with Speropictures. As the producer of “The Trump I Know,” I had several questions I sincerely wanted answered. As a woman who did not vote for Trump in 2016, I had even more questions and was hoping to gain understanding. My heart going into the project was to get clarity on what I was hearing from the mainstream media and what I was experiencing from the policies that were being implemented.
Over the course of President Trump’s time in office, I became a Trump fan. I was discovering that many of the policies he was putting in place were pro-female, pro-black, pro-minority, pro-life, pro-religious freedom, pro-small business, and pro-America First. I began digging into his books, along with the books of his daughter Ivanka, his ex-wife Ivanna’s book, and Doug Wead’s book (In Trump’s White House).
What I learned was Donald J. Trump has always been pro-female. For example, in “The Art of the Deal,” he talks about hiring the first female lead architect to head the construction of Trump Tower. Over the years, he worked with many powerful women as equals. He hired them for their Type A go-getter personalities. Who better to run a business or a campaign than a capable female with pedigree qualifications? While he finds women attractive, that does not make him sexist or a misogynist. That makes him a normal straight male. While I believe there were times when he should have bitten his tongue instead of making an inappropriate comment, I could also say that for a vast majority of people both famous and ordinary.
I quickly learned Trump was always pro people of color. Just look at his friends and project partners, which (have) include(d) people such as pastor Mark Burns, Jesse Jackson, and Robert Kiyoski. Trump has regularly condemned racism of any kind. In fact, as sitting president, Donald Trump put in more pro-black and pro-minority policies than Barack Obama, including his “unwavering support” of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The truth is, President Trump does not play identity politics. He hires and advocates based on the merit of the individual. On the other hand, you have someone currently sitting in the office of the presidency, who seems to hire based on race and gender or gender preferences rather than seeking out the most qualified applicant.
Trump put in more pro-life policies than any predecessor before him. He was adamant about protecting religious freedoms for all people. President Trump not only secured America’s borders from the cartel and sex traffickers, but made other nations safer at the same time. With all the information that I easily discovered, now I wondered why I was being told the opposite by the mainstream media who had originally helped build his brand and image?
So, with that bit of research, a small team, including myself, executive producers Joe Knopp and Daryl LeFever, and my talented husband, Matthew Thayer, directing the project, sought to hear some first-hand experiences of President Trump from women in his business, family, and the campaign.
Lara & Eric
Executive Producer Joe Knopp, whose story is in the film, introduced us to Lara and Eric Trump. These two are the most kind and gracious humans you will ever meet. I often think of how understated this exceptional couple is. They have a strong marriage, a moral core, run world-class businesses, and have two well-adjusted toddlers who know they are loved. Lara is a super mom on every level and Eric is a very present and active father. Getting to be in their home, their places of work, and on the Women For Trump bus tour gave us an up-close and personal look into their lives. These people are the same behind the scenes as they are when the camera is rolling. Authenticity is a word thrown around so much we don’t even know what it means until we are acquainted with it. Lara and Eric Trump are by far as real as they come. They opened the doors that gave us access to so many other honest hard-working Americans who are fighting for our freedoms.
Campaign HQ
At Lara’s invitation, our team had the unique privilege of spending a couple of days at the RNC campaign office filming some extraordinary leaders who were on the front lines of the Trump campaign. We had exclusive access as Brad Parscale, Rona McDaniel, Mercedes Schlapp, and Lara and Eric Trump sat discussing 2020 presidential election strategies. While chatting about many other topics, the campaign advisers naturally zeroed in on how the Trump campaign is staffed mostly by extraordinary women.Pastor Paula White
Pastor Paula White-Cain graciously squeezed us into her busy schedule and provided one of our most powerful interviews—sharing her own personal story along with how she came to be called the President’s pastor. That’s right, his pastor. I find it odd that a “misogynist” would call a woman his pastor and has done so for decades. She spoke about Trump’s passion for prayer and his love of religious freedoms for all Americans.
Trump Winery
The Trump Winery is absolutely stunning. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, the winery is managed, like many of Trump’s businesses, by a very capable woman who holds her own in the male-dominated wine industry. General Manager Kerry Woolard shared many heartfelt anecdotes about the Trump family and how President Trump has an amazing ability to see talent in people often before they even see it in themselves. Her fond recounting of Mr. Trump made our entire team feel as if they personally knew this kind and brilliant man.Meet the Schlapp’s
One of our personal favorites was the interview with the Schlapp family. These wonderful humans opened up their home, shared dinner and wine with our team, and made us all feel like old friends. We not only heard some of their own personal experiences, but laughed out loud at Matt Schlapp’s humorous stories about the president. Even the family dog joined in and got some back-scratching attention. During all of this, Super Mom Mercedes managed to connect with her five daughters, making sure she was up to speed on their school work, social lives, and what they had to eat that day. She then hopped in the other room, did some Fox News interviews, and came back to hang out with us again, all without missing a beat. This experience is one we will sincerely treasure for the rest of our lives.
Kimberly Guilfoyle (& Don Jr.!)
We caught up with Kimberly in D.C. the day after she received a clean bill of health from being in COVID quarantine. And she was fired up. It was a hard task to pick the best clips from this interview. Every word spoken felt like a mic drop. Then toward the end of the interview, Don Jr. popped in! Talk about a dynamic duo!Having known the president and his family for years, campaign fundraiser Kimberly was doing everything within her power to give President Trump the resources and tools necessary to get the job done in 2020. She and Don Jr. are not only the poster couple for adventure, but they are as courageous as President Trump when it comes to facing the media’s outrageous slander. And they certainly aren’t afraid to point out the ultra-left’s absurd political views. Powerful indeed!
Kayleigh McEnany
President Trump might be the boss, but his press secretary is a boss. What an honor it was to meet Kayleigh. Just like the many women we met, Kayleigh opened up her beautiful home to our crew. She was relaxed, thoughtful, and in mom mode. She sat down with her husband, major league baseball pitcher Sean Gilmartin, and baby Blake and shared her most precious moments with us. She talked fondly about the president and how much he truly cared for people and how the press worked so hard to take his words out of context. She then took us over to meet her parents. You can really tell a lot about a person when you learn about their upbringing. Her mother graciously told us stories about Kayleigh’s ambitions growing up. Her father also shared some intimate stories about talking Kayleigh through her actions at work. He said, “It’s all about the truth. If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember what story you told.” It was such a huge honor to be welcomed into their private world and hear their experiences of our great president.
Where We Are Today
Our 12-person on-the-ground team, office staff, and post-production crew all worked tirelessly to get this project turned around as quickly and excellently as possible. Needless to say, that was no small feat. Thousands of hours of editing, composing, sound design, color correction, motion graphics, and more were being done by award-winning professionals.But, to no surprise, after all of our hard work and efforts, we got censored. And censored hard. We turned this massive project around in three months. Our goal was to have it completed before the 2020 election. Even after we had it uploaded and QC’d, Amazon Prime did not allow it on their platform until the day after the 2020 election, Google Play did not post it until Dec. 3, 2020, and Apple TV waited until December 2020 as well. This definitely made us raise our eyebrows and ask why? What is the left trying to hide? Facebook shadowbanned us and suppressed our feed. They wouldn’t allow people to leave reviews and even took down our swag merch store stating a commerce policy violation and not abiding by their guidelines.
More than ever, we the people need the truth. We need to be given the opportunity to ask questions and make up our own minds. I know our team is so grateful for platforms such as The Epoch Times, NTD, and EpochTV for being willing to unabashedly share the truth.