Melania Trump’s Mysterious Amazon Documentary: What We Know

In a statement announcing the project on January 6, 2025, an Amazon spokesperson described the project as an “unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at First Lady Melania Trump.”

Several days later, Trump shared some more details during an interview with Ainsley Earhardt on Fox & Friends.

“We started the production in November, and we are shooting right now, so it’s a day-to-day life, what I’m doing, what kind of responsibilities I have,” she said.

“It’s day-to-day, from transition team to moving to the White House, packing, establishing my team, the First Lady office, moving into the White House, what it takes to make the residence your home, to hire the people that you need,” Trump continued.

Maybe? Sometimes? She told Earhardt that she would “be in the White House,” but added, “You know, when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach.”

After participating in inauguration activities during the first week of Trump’s second presidency, Melania disappeared for nearly a month. On February 25, People reported that regular disappearances are just part of who the First Lady is:

A political source tells PEOPLE that her stepping away from the spotlight during her husband’s first few weeks in office “should not come as a surprise because this is how she lives.”

“She will never be a traditional first lady. That isn’t who she is,” the source says, adding that she has “her own ideas on what she wants to do.”

The magazine reported that Melania stayed at the White House and Mar-a-Lago during her weeks out of the public eye, but “she hasn’t spent meaningful time at the White House in an official capacity.”

A Miami political source added, “Melania has been busy shooting her documentary and that has taken place in several locations, including the White House.” So Melania had to take a break from First Lady duties because she was too busy filming a documentary about what it’s like to be First Lady?

Trump told Earhardt that after the release of her best-selling memoir last fall she realized that people are hungry for more Melania content.

“Well, the book was such a success, and I’m very proud, and I get so many messages and letters how they enjoy the book, and they would love — my fans and people — would love to hear more from me,” Trump said.

“So, I had an idea to make a movie, to make a film, about my life,” she continued. “My life is incredible. It’s incredibly busy, and I told my agent, you know, ‘I have this idea, so please, you know, go out and make a deal for me.’”

Making tens of millions of dollars probably has something to do with it.

Puck News’ Matthew Belloni reported on January 7 that Amazon is paying $40 million for the primary documentary and a follow-up docuseries:

I know it’s 2025, nothing matters anymore, and even The Walt Disney Co. is kissing Donald Trump’s ring. But I’ve also learned that Amazon is paying a cool $40 million to license the film, per three sources familiar with the deal. That price includes the Ratner documentary, which will get a small theatrical release and then appear on Prime Video, plus a previously undisclosed two-to-three-episode follow-up docuseries on the first lady. Melania will participate in both projects. (Amazon declined to comment.)

How much of that will go to Melania? According to The Wall Street Journal, she’s set to make $28 million, and as of February she was still looking for additional ways to monetize the project:

The first lady’s cut is more than 70% of the $40 million, according to people familiar with the matter. And they’re still looking for more: Melania’s agent has been trying to sell “sponsorships” for the film — starting at $10 million — to prominent CEOs and billionaires who were at the inauguration, according to people familiar with the matter. Buyers would get thanked at the end of the credits and be invited to the premiere. These overtures were made independently of the deal with Amazon, which was unaware of the outreach, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Amazon founder has been cozying up to Donald Trump for months, from killing a Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris to attending Trump’s indoor inauguration. In the same February WSJ piece, the paper revealed that Melania pitched the documentary to Bezos personally when he dined a Mar-a-Lago in December:

[Melania] was looking for a buyer for a documentary about her transition back to first lady. Her agent had pitched the film, which she would executive produce, to a number of studios, including the one owned by Amazon. As the meeting approached, Melania consulted with director Brett Ratner on how to sell her idea to the world’s third-richest man. Melania regaled Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, with the project’s details at dinner.

Just over two weeks later, Amazon, a company that prides itself on frugality and sharp negotiating, agreed to pay $40 million to license the film — the most Amazon had ever spent on a documentary and nearly three times the next-closest offer. 

Netflix and Apple declined even to bid. Paramount made a lowball $4 million distribution-rights offer. Disney, the most interested studio besides Amazon, offered $14 million. 

An Amazon spokesman downplayed the suggestion that the deal was part of Bezos’s effort to kiss up to the new administration, telling the paper, “We licensed the upcoming Melania Trump documentary film and series for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.”

That may be the most mysterious part of the whole project. Ratner directed and produced multiple blockbuster films, but he’s been shunned by Hollywood since six women accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct in a 2017 Los Angeles Times exposé. (Ratner denied all of the allegations, and no charges were brought against him.)

Ratner was the “first and only choice to direct the Melania film,” according to Puck’s Kim Masters, and quickly installed at Mar-a-Lago:

By mid-December, a source involved in the bidding for the project told me that Ratner had been installed in an eight-bedroom house at Mar-a-Lago as Melania’s guest. He hadn’t even met her yet, this source said. (Ratner did not respond to a request for comment.) 

Masters mapped out “Ratner’s deep connections to people who matter in Trumpworld” but could not determine who initially came up with the idea to have the disgraced director direct a film about the First Lady.

Possible theories include: (1) Melania couldn’t find any other MAGA-friendly directors. (2) She identifies with Ratner as a self-described “cancel culture” victim. (3) She’s a secret X-Men: The Last Stand stan. Or maybe it’s a mix of all three. Masters noted, “A source with a first-hand view of the goings-on told me that Melania herself said she was a fan of Ratner’s work (Tower Heist? Red Dragon?) and liked the idea that he was an outcast.”

That’s the rumor:

Argentine producer Fernando Sulichin, who has worked on several projects with Oliver Stone, is an executive producer on the doc — along with Melania herself.

“Elon Musk is a presence in the film,” according to Puck. There are no further details on which Trump family members might appear in the film, though this does seem like a great opportunity for the public to hear Barron Trump speak more than five words.

Apparently not! Kim Masters reported in Puck News:

A source with knowledge of the situation told me that Ratner shot for more than 30 days and had such unfettered access to the White House that Secret Service agents were said to be uneasy.

The original announcement said it would be released in the second half of this year, and there have been no further updates from Amazon.

The film will stream on Amazon Prime Video and be released in theaters — but perhaps not many. Puck reported that Melania’s team “insisted on a theatrical release, which insiders say will be brief and limited.”