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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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The new Melania Trump documentary has sparked concerns about a conflict of interest because it is funded by Amazon, a company that receives government contracts.
Melania, a 104-minute film, follows the 20 days in the life of the first lady leading up to President Donald Trump's second inauguration in January 2025. It was released in theaters across the United States on Friday.
The film, directed by Brett Ratner, a filmmaker who was accused of sexual misconduct, allegations he denies, is said to be one of the most expensive documentaries of all time.
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Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for it and an additional $35 million for marketing. According to studio estimates released on Sunday, the documentary debuted with $7 million in ticket sales in its first weekend, and $2.9 million on its first day, meaning it is yet to turn a profit.
As cinemagoers buy their theater tickets, procurement experts have raised questions about Amazon's relationship with the Trump administration, given the company's significant federal contracts.
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the director of government affairs at nonpartisan government watchdog the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) told Newsweek: "Setting aside the merits or quality of the film itself, this kind of thing—while an administration is still in effect and while the relevant company has massive equities in the form of large federal contracts either ongoing or prospectively—presents at minimum the appearance of impropriety and the perception of a classic pay-to-play, influence peddling exercise."
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Speaking at the film's premiere, President Trump said, "I’m not involved. It was done with my wife. I think it’s a very important movie. It shows life in the White House. It’s a big deal, actually.”
An Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson told Newsweek: “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only—because we think customers are going to love it.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
Amazon Web Services has received $329,500,00 in contracts from 314 transactions spanning different presidential administrations, including Trump's second administration, according to federal procurement data.
There is no suggestion that the contracts were awarded because of Amazon's involvement in the Melania film. Amazon has received federal contracts under other presidents. In 2022, under the Biden administration, the Pentagon awarded $9 billion in cloud computing contracts to Amazon Web Services and three other companies, for instance.
Meanwhile, Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund in December 2024. The company previously donated $56,746 to Trump's inaugural fund in 2017, and Amazon founder Bezos donated to the White House ballroom construction project last year. There is also no suggestion that federal contracts were awarded in return for these donations.
But Hedtler-Gaudette said: "If you add together the Melania film, the ballroom project, and the inauguration, you are looking at tens of millions of dollars flowing directly from Amazon/Bezos into Trump administration and/or Trump family projects, none of which even fall into the normal category of lobbying an administration on specific policy and regulatory priorities.
"At least when Amazon engages in this more classic kind of influence-peddling and rent-seeking, there’s a throughline to the specific policy or regulatory outcome that Amazon and/or Bezos wants. This murkier, more shadowy financially based influence operation is more concerning and potentially dangerous in its opacity."
Jessica Tillipman, a professor at the George Washington University of Law who specializes in government procurement and contracts law told Newsweek: "The president is exempt from the federal criminal conflict of interest rules, but when a federal contractor enters into a significant entertainment deal involving the First Family, it can create the perception that the company is seeking an advantage in its dealings with the federal government, even if the arrangement is legal."
"All of this underscores the need for a fundamental transformation and overhaul of the ethics and conflict of interest framework for federal government officials, from the President to members of Congress to Supreme Court Justices," said Hedtler-Gaudette. "The existing flimsy latticework of weak and largely ineffectual rules to govern this kind of corruption simply isn’t up to the task, particularly in this new era in which so much of the corruption or potential corruption is happening nakedly and brazenly before our very eyes. It’s the emperor has no clothes parable if the emperor were making zero effort to hide or otherwise obscure his nudity but instead reveled in the lack of clothes."
Melania has a 99 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes but holds just a 10 percent Tomatometer rating from critics. It will be available to stream on Prime, but a release date has yet to be confirmed.
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