--- title: Donald Trump Offers Screening of Benghazi Movie 13 Hours description: Though the director has said the film is apolitical, conservatives have praised its perspective canonical: https://time.com/4182281/donald-trump-benghazi-13-hours-movie-iowa-screening/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-15T14:19:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:10:11.600Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Offers Free Screening of Benghazi Movie '13 Hours' og:description: While the director has said the film is apolitical, conservatives have praised it og:url: https://time.com/4182281/donald-trump-benghazi-13-hours-movie-iowa-screening/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57ea97087b239d00/698879485f570f47edb1f344/13-hours-film.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Offers Free Screening of Benghazi Movie '13 Hours' twitter:description: While the director has said the film is apolitical, conservatives have praised it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57ea97087b239d00/698879485f570f47edb1f344/13-hours-film.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Offers Iowans a Free Screening of Benghazi Movie _13 Hours_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jan 15, 2016 2:19 PM UTC  John Krasinski as Jack Silva in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. John Krasinski as Jack Silva in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.Christian Black—Paramount Pictures/AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jan 15, 2016 2:19 PM UTC [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-donald-trump/) rented out an Iowa theater to [screen the new Benghazi](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/01/14/donald-trump-rents-urbandale-iowa-theater-free-showing-benghazi-movie-13-hours/78823046/) movie [_13 Hours_](http://time.com/4178593/benghazi-movie-13-hours-accuracy-fact-check/) for his supporters on Friday for free. The film has been widely praised by conservatives, including Ted Cruz, who mentioned it during Thursday night’s [Republican presidential debate](http://time.com/4182083/republican-debate-donald-trump-nasty/). Four Americans were killed in the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, during Hilary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. GOP presidential hopefuls have used the incident to question Clinton’s fitness for office. The new movie, helmed by _Transformers_ director Michael Bay, tells the story of security team attempting to save those in the consulate during the attack. Despite Republican support for the film, Bay has [emphatically said](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-bay-talks-his-benghazi-822130) of the movie, “There is no political agenda.” Neither Clinton nor President Obama are mentioned in the film. **MORE** [The True Story Behind the Benghazi Movie _13 Hours_](http://time.com/4178593/benghazi-movie-13-hours-accuracy-fact-check/) Still, the movie hits on hot button issues. In one scene, a group of contractors are ordered to stand down and not provide assistance to the consulate. Though congressional investigators have found the “stand down” was never ordered, contractors interviewed after the fact have maintained that it was. **Read More:** [_Bush Finds His Groove in Trump’s Shadow_](http://time.com/4183663/jeb-bush-donald-trump-new-hampshire/) The screening will take place at the Cobblestone Theater outside Des Moines, [the Des Moines _Register_](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/01/14/donald-trump-rents-urbandale-iowa-theater-free-showing-benghazi-movie-13-hours/78823046/) reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4182281/donald-trump-benghazi-13-hours-movie-iowa-screening/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4182281/donald-trump-benghazi-13-hours-movie-iowa-screening/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Offers Iowans a Free Screening of Benghazi Movie 13 Hours","datePublished":"2016-01-15T14:19:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:10:11.600Z","description":"While the director has said the film is apolitical, conservatives have praised it","url":"https://time.com/4182281/donald-trump-benghazi-13-hours-movie-iowa-screening/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57ea97087b239d00/698879485f570f47edb1f344/13-hours-film.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57ea97087b239d00/698879485f570f47edb1f344/13-hours-film.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi","caption":"John Krasinski as Jack Silva in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.","creditText":"Christian Black—Paramount Pictures/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4182281/donald-trump-benghazi-13-hours-movie-iowa-screening/","name":"Donald Trump Offers Iowans a Free Screening of Benghazi Movie 13 Hours"}}]}] ```