Running time on Air Force One as Melania’s director Brett Ratner joins Trump’s China trip | The Trump administration

Brett Ratner, the director of the films Rush Hour and a Melania Trump’s postsaccompanying Donald Trump to China for his meeting with Xi Jinping.

Trump needs to catch up talks with the Chinese leader Thursday and Friday on economic and political issues, including Iran and Taiwan. The US President was accompanied on Air Force One by CEOs and governors from major US companies and financial institutions, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk and BlackRock’s Larry Fink. Ratner was also part of the group.

The president says he’s a big fan of Rush Hour, which revolves around detectives James Carter and Yan Naing Lee – played by Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan respectively – as they navigate their cultural differences and investigate crimes in Hong Kong, Paris and Los Angeles.

His spokeswoman, Victoria Palmer-Moore, said he would use the trip to see the filming location for the latest installment of the Rush Hour franchise. He added that Ratner wanted to shoot “a lot” of Rush Hour 4 inside China.

Last November, Trump urged billionaire Larry Ellison, the chief financial officer behind Paramount Skydance, to return the franchise after Paramount went through with its purchase of Warner Bros., according to US Semafor news.

Despite the support of Mr. Trump, the deal has not yet been confirmed, as hundreds of Hollywood actors and directors have asked the administration to block the acquisition of Paramount for fear of layoffs and a much smaller film.

Trump’s support has allowed Ratner to return to Hollywood after being estranged after being accused of sexual harassment in the #MeToo movement in 2017. Ratner denies all allegations.

In 2026, Ratner released a documentary sponsored by Amazon Melania, which followed the first lady 20 days before Trump’s second inauguration. Critical and commercial, the documentary pulled in $16.7m at the box office against a production budget of $40m. It was the first film directed by Ratner in more than a decade.

The original Rush Hour was an instant hit in 1998, topping the US charts when it was released. His follow-up Rush Hour 2 was also a commercial success in 2001, before Ratner released the disappointing and disappointing Rush Hour 3 in 2007.

Despite rumors of a fourth film that has been circulating for almost two decades, Chan said in 2017 that he and Tucker agreed on a new script, development stopped until Trump intervened at the end of 2025.