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Melania’s Amazon Gravy Train Faces a Brutal New Reality

As Trump grapples with his election humiliation, Melania’s latest Amazon payday is coming into focus.

Melania Trump’s latest foray into streaming could come with an unexpected plot twist: congressional scrutiny.

Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Prime Video is scheduled to release Melania’s two-part docuseries on Nov. 20, just weeks after Americans delivered a scathing repudiation of President Donald Trump’s second term and expressed concern over corruption within the administration.

One episode, titled “Family & Trust,” will follow Melania as she prepares to become first lady, building on her earlier eponymous documentary. The second episode, titled “Pride & Honor,” takes place just after Trump’s inauguration.

On The Daily Beast Podcast, executive editor Hugh Dougherty pointed out the irony of the docuseries announcement coming just after Trump’s party suffered a humiliating midterm defeat.

“Her husband just lost an election in humiliating fashion,” Dougherty told host Joanna Coles. “The Democrats are going to go after every bit of the grift.”

Exit polls showed that Americans are deeply concerned about the economy and cost of living, which has skyrocketed since Trump waged war against Iran. But more than half of voters across the U.S. also said corruption was a “crucial” consideration in their voting decisions.

California Rep. Robert Garcia, who is expected to become chairman of the House Oversight Committee, had a brief message for Trump and his “crime family” shortly after Democrats swept the elections: “Lawyer up.”

“It’s as if they’ve got their hand out for as much cash as they can get, and I wonder if that speeds up... Do they become even greedier now that the clock is ticking?” Coles asked Dougherty, who pointed out that the first couple has already received $10.71 million from the Melania documentary.

“There’s already a serious amount of money that’s gone to Melania. There was no scrutiny. The Republicans weren’t doing any oversight,” he said. “And that’s another aspect of this election: People said, ‘Hold on. Your job is to hold people accountable, to be a check and a balance on power.’”

“Now we have Democrats who are determined,” he continued. “They have already said some of the targets for subpoenas. Those targets already include Donald Trump Jr., because of his extraordinary business dealings. There is no way that they are not going to go after Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and Melania Trump for this—I’m going to say—extraordinary documentary,” Dougherty continued. “We’ve all got questions.”

The White House and the Office of the First Lady did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Trump reported a multimillion-dollar licensing fee for Melania on his 2025 financial disclosure report. Amazon, meanwhile, spent $40 million to acquire the documentary and blew another $35 million on marketing. The film ultimately made about $16.6 million worldwide, and it has since been released on Amazon Prime Video.

The president also reported a $521,161 licensing payment for a Melania memoir from Skyhorse Publishing and $6 million in net proceeds from “NFTs and other collectibles” associated with the first lady.

The White House has repeatedly maintained that “neither the President nor his family has ever engaged—or will ever engage—in conflicts of interest.”

But voters weren’t convinced, and Democrats are fired up after wresting power from Republicans.

“The American people have spoken, and they are tired of the unprecedented level of corruption coming out of this White House under President Trump,” Garcia said in a video statement on Friday.

“Oversight Democrats are ready to take on the crooks, the con men, and the Trump crime family. Lawyer up.”

New episodes of The Daily Beast Podcast are released every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday on YouTube, and on other podcast platforms the next morning. Follow our new feed on your favorite podcast platform at beast.pub/dailybeastpod and subscribe on YouTube to watch full episodes.

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Julia OrnedoReporter

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