Donald Trump turned combative after he was cornered about Melania Trump’s lucrative deal with Jeff Bezos’ Amazon at the premiere of his wife’s documentary.
Amazon forked over $40 million to the 55-year-old first lady for the rights to Melania and later shelled out an additional $35 million towards marketing for the film, which premiered at the Kennedy Center on Thursday.
Trump, 79, was confronted about the deal as he walked the center’s black carpet.
“Amazon paid $75 million to make and market this film. It’s an exorbitant fee,” a reporter began. “Many Americans think that this is maybe Jeff Bezos trying to get in good with you, and they would call it an act of corporate corruption—”
“Who’re you with? Who’re you with?” Trump interrupted.
“The New York Times,” the reporter, Shawn McCreesh, replied.
“Ugh,” the billionaire president scoffed, “Fake news, New York Times. No, I don’t know, I mean, I don’t know really, I’m not involved in that. That was done with my wife.”
He followed up by touting the supposed significance of the film, which follows Melania in the 20 days leading up to the 2025 inauguration.
“Uhh, I think it’s gonna be—I think it’s a very important movie, I think it’s really gonna be very important,” he said. “It shows life in the White House. It’s a big deal, actually.”
Critics claim Amazon handed Melania a suspiciously large deal, paying her production company, Muse Films, roughly $26 million more than the next closest bidder, Disney, for her film and a follow-up docuseries scheduled to air later this year, according to the Times.
“This has to be the most expensive documentary ever made that didn’t involve music licensing,” said Ted Hope, who worked at Amazon from 2015 to 2020 and oversaw the company’s film division. “How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe? How can that not be the case?”
Amazon’s payment for Melania’s vanity project has “no correlation to the marketplace,” said Thom Powers, the Toronto International Film Festival’s documentary programmer.
Indeed, Melania is projected to make a measly $5 million on the weekend following its official release on Friday, putting Amazon on track to recoup only a fraction of its costs.
Yet, Amazon has insisted, “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.”
Talent in Amazon’s entertainment division had concerns about the company’s motives in making the film, the Times reports. The company, however, did not allow them to opt out of working on Melania for political reasons.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Amazon for comment.
