Trump made millions from the Melania Amazon documentary
The Melania Trump Amazon documentary paid the Trumps $10.71 million in licensing fees, according to President Donald Trump's 2025 financial disclosure released on June 30, 2026. Amazon MGM Studios reportedly spent $75 million total on the project, while the film earned roughly $16.7 million at the worldwide box office.
The 927-page filing from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics has put a dollar figure on one of the year's most scrutinized streaming deals. The Brett Ratner-directed documentary, produced through Melania Trump's Muse Films, premiered in theaters on January 30 before landing on Prime Video.
Key Takeaways
- Trump reported a $10.71 million licensing fee from the Melania Trump Amazon documentary in his 2025 disclosure.
- Amazon MGM Studios acquired the film for $40 million and spent an additional $35 million on marketing.
- The documentary grossed approximately $16.7 million worldwide, well below Amazon's total investment.
- Democrats including Sen. Elizabeth Warren have questioned whether the deal was intended to curry favor with the administration.
- The disclosure also listed $521,161 from Melania's memoir licensing and $6 million from NFT sales.
How much did Amazon pay for the Melania documentary?
Amazon MGM Studios won a competitive bidding process for "Melania," paying $40 million for distribution rights, according to reporting cited by Euronews and The Hollywood Reporter. The studio then allocated $35 million toward marketing the 104-minute film, which follows Melania Trump through the 20 days before her husband's second inauguration.
The theatrical rollout opened in roughly 1,500 theaters before the documentary moved to Prime Video. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has denied that the acquisition was a way of buying influence with Trump, calling it a business decision instead.
Why are lawmakers questioning the Amazon deal?
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called Amazon's $40 million bid "bribery in plain sight," arguing the price far exceeded what documentaries typically command. Warren and Rep. Hank Johnson have pressed Amazon to explain whether anyone in the Trump administration discussed the deal.
Amazon pushed back, saying its decision was based on "the access, the story, and its cultural and historical relevance." The controversy sits at the intersection of politics and platform economics — a theme we track across Future Tech & AI Wonders.
What else did Trump's financial disclosure reveal?
Beyond the Melania Trump Amazon documentary payment, the filing showed Trump received $521,161 from Skyhorse Publishing for licensing tied to Melania's memoir. Melania Trump also reported more than $6 million in net proceeds from NFTs and other collectibles associated with her brand.
The disclosure, reported by The Hollywood Reporter, offers one of the clearest views yet of how Hollywood money flowed to the Trumps in 2025 — even as the documentary struggled to recoup its costs in theaters.