Melania Trump has revealed how much she made from the Amazon documentary that bears her name.
The first lady, according to her husband’s annual financial disclosure report, earned $10.71 million from the film. Trump, 56, also reported approximately $521,000 from her memoir, published a month before the 2024 presidential election, and just over $6 million from NFTs (non-fungible tokens) “and other collectibles.”
The Amazon MGM-produced documentary about Trump cost $75 million to make and promote, but garnered just $16 million at the box office. Lagging ticket sales led to some sparse showings, and in South Africa, it was pulled from all theaters.
Reviews were also generally poor. On Rotten Tomatoes, 61 critics’ reviews combined for just 10 percent approval. The Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon called it “a level of insipid propaganda that almost resists review; it’s so expected and utterly pointless.”
That spurred members of Congress to write to Amazon president and CEO Andy Jassy about whether Melania was a “box office gamble or bribe” or part of a “pay-to-play arrangement” with the Trump administration.
Donald Trump was asked during the film’s January premiere at the Kennedy Center about whether Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was “trying to get in good with you,” and how Americans have “called it corporate corruption.”
Trump responded: “No, I don’t know, I mean, I don’t know really, I’m not involved in that. That was done with my wife.”
Bezos has denied that as well.
“We have denied it. Melania’s office has denied it. It’s not true. I had nothing to do with that,” he told CNBC last month.
Allegations that he was “buying influence” were incorrect, he added, while acknowledging, “I can see why people say this.”
Amazon may continue putting Trump family members in front of the camera. In April, the company was reportedly mulling a reboot of The Apprentice, with Donald Trump Jr. potentially filling his father’s shoes, though the network hadn’t asked the Trump family about it.
The Apprentice, which helped portray the future president as a capable businessman, ran on NBC from 2004 to 2017, but Amazon acquired rights to it in 2022.
The show continues to provide Donald Trump with substantial royalties—between $100,000 and $1,000,000 in 2024, according to his disclosure forms viewed by The Hollywood Reporter.
The Daily Beast has contacted Amazon MGM for comment.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in part, “Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest."
