President Donald Trump’s newest monetary disclosure has revealed that he acquired a $10.7 million licensing fee tied to Amazon MGM Studios’ Melania documentary, providing the clearest look but at how a lot the president earned from the critically reviled challenge.
Launched Tuesday by the US Workplace of Authorities Ethics, the 927-page submitting lists a $10.71 million licensing charge related to Melania, the Brett Ratner-directed documentary centered on First Girl Melania Trump. The disclosure additionally exhibits an extra $521,161 in licensing earnings from Melania Trump’s memoir, printed by Skyhorse Publishing, together with roughly $6 million in proceeds from NFTs and different collectibles related to the First Girl.
Amazon MGM Studios reportedly paid $40 million to amass the rights to Melania following a post-election bidding conflict. In response to reporting by The Wall Avenue Journal, the deal got here after Donald and Melania Trump met with Jeff Bezos at Mar-a-Lago simply weeks following the 2024 presidential election.
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Melania debuted in theaters in January earlier than later arriving on Prime Video, and was met with withering opinions. Consequence gave the “documentary” an F, criticizing the movie as a shiny train in picture administration that provided nothing past fastidiously managed entry to the First Girl. Regardless of Amazon’s reported $75 million funding in buying and advertising Melania, the documentary finally grossed simply $16.7 million worldwide throughout its theatrical run. Presently, Melania has a 7% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
Along with the Melania-related funds, the submitting stories greater than $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency-related earnings by ventures together with World Liberty Monetary and the $TRUMP meme coin, pushing his reported annual income previous $2 billion.
When Trump was requested whether or not he was cashing in on the presidency in gentle of the blockbuster monetary disclosure, he argued that “everyone is profiting” as a result of the inventory market is up. In the course of the transient line of questioning, the president additionally stated, “I made some huge cash earlier than I grew to become president… I don’t know if I had a greater profession in politics or enterprise.” The report exhibits he made greater than triple the earnings from the 12 months earlier than he bought re-elected, so it’s protected to say the reply is politics.
Responding to questions concerning the president’s enterprise pursuits, White Home spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated in an announcement that “Neither the President nor his household has ever engaged — or will ever interact — in conflicts of curiosity,” including that “all actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in one of the best curiosity of the American folks.”
The assertion is prone to do little to quiet critics, who’ve pointed to controversies starting from Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures to the administration’s acceptance of a luxurious Boeing 747-8 from Qatar, which underwent in depth taxpayer-funded modifications earlier than taking off simply hours in the past as an interim Air Pressure One.
For extra on the movie itself, revisit Liz Shannon Miller’s F-rated evaluate of Melania, which examined Ratner’s return to directing and the documentary’s try to launder the First Girl’s public picture by prestige-documentary packaging.
