Amazon licenses a Melania Trump documentary
- Status
- Paid; film released
- Type
- Licensing deal · Jan 1, 2025
- Counterparty
- Amazon (Jeff Bezos)
- Amount
- $40 million
- People
- Donald Trump
WHO PAID, WHO GOT WHAT
Agreed weeks after Bezos dined with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago and after Amazon gave $1 million to the inaugural committee, while Amazon was defending the Federal Trade Commission’s 2023 antitrust suit. Rolling Stone reported that Amazon Web Services is a giant federal contractor and that Bezos’s Blue Origin has NASA contracts worth billions. Melania Trump is an executive producer, NBC News reported.
WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS
The film was directed by Brett Ratner. Month-precision date; the deal was reported in January 2025. Donald Trump’s annual financial disclosure report covering 2025 listed $10.71 million in income to Melania Trump from the documentary, Business Insider reported. Earlier, Rolling Stone, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that she kept roughly 70 percent of the fee, about $28 million.
RESPONSE
Amazon described the film as an unprecedented look at the first lady’s life. An Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson told Rolling Stone the studio had no ulterior motive. “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only,” the spokesperson said, “because we think customers are going to love it.”
Correction. An earlier version said the Trumps’ share of the fee was not disclosed. Business Insider reported that Donald Trump’s financial disclosure report covering 2025 listed $10.71 million in income to Melania Trump from the film; Rolling Stone, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that she kept roughly 70 percent of the fee, about $28 million. Corrected September 18, 2026.
SOURCES
- Rolling Stone: Amazon is paying $40 million to license Melania Trump documentary ↗
- CBC: Amazon to release Melania Trump documentary directed by Brett Ratner ↗
- Business Insider: Melania Trump made over $17 million from documentary, book sales, NFTs ↗
- Rolling Stone: ‘Chaos’: Behind the scenes of Amazon’s Melania Trump doc ↗
- NBC News: Amazon Prime Video picks up Melania Trump documentary set for release this year ↗
- Federal Trade Commission: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power ↗
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