Overview
- President Trump’s mandatory 2025 financial disclosure reports a $10.71 million licensing fee tied to the Amazon MGM documentary “Melania,” plus about $521,161 for a memoir license and roughly $6 million from NFTs and collectibles.
- Variety has reported that Amazon MGM paid about $40 million to acquire the film and spent roughly $35 million on marketing while the documentary earned about $16.6 million at the global box office before moving to Prime Video.
- Democrats and senators have demanded answers, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren calling the studio’s purchase “bribery in plain sight,” while the White House and Amazon executives deny any pay‑to‑play or conflict‑of‑interest wrongdoing.
- Amazon says the deal followed a competitive bidding process, that the film has performed well on Prime Video, and that a companion docuseries is expected from Amazon MGM later this year.
- The disclosure places the payment inside a wider 2025 income report that could prompt further congressional review of high‑value corporate deals with the president and his family.