Jeff Bezos' unexpected alliance with Donald Trump takes center stage in a series of controversial media moves.
According to CNBC, Amazon Prime Video has secured exclusive rights to a documentary about Melania Trump amid reports of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' planned $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural fund.
The documentary, which began filming in December 2024, marks a significant shift in the relationship between Bezos and Trump following their recent meeting at Mar-a-Lago after Trump's election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Brett Ratner, who faced sexual misconduct allegations in 2017, will direct the film, while Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media will serve as executive producer.
The announcement coincides with mounting tensions at The Washington Post, where Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned after her work was rejected. Her satirical cartoon depicted Bezos and other tech billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman, kneeling before Trump with money bags.
The newspaper's editorial page editor, David Shipley, defended the decision to reject the cartoon, citing redundancy in coverage. According to Shipley:
The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump
The controversy has led to significant consequences for The Washington Post, with NPR reporting that 300,000 digital subscribers – approximately 12% of total digital subscriptions – canceled their memberships between October 24 and Election Day.
An Amazon spokesperson detailed the streaming platform's plans for the documentary:
Amazon Prime Video has exclusively licensed an upcoming documentary film for both theatrical and streaming release that will give viewers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at First Lady Melania Trump. Filming began in December 2024, with an anticipated release in the second half of 2025. Prime Video will be sharing more details on the project as filming progresses and release plans are finalized. We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world
This development marks a dramatic shift from previous tensions between Trump and Bezos. In 2019, Amazon filed a lawsuit alleging it lost a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft due to Trump's alleged interference against his perceived political enemy.
The documentary announcement follows a pattern of media outlets adjusting their editorial positions in response to Trump's electoral victory. The Los Angeles Times, owned by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, blocked a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris before the election.
Several members of The Washington Post's editorial board resigned after the newspaper killed its planned Harris endorsement. Publisher Will Lewis has denied Bezos' involvement in this decision, though questions about editorial independence persist.
These developments reflect broader changes in the relationship between major tech companies and the incoming Trump administration. The meeting between Bezos and Trump at Mar-a-Lago, combined with the Amazon founder's planned inaugural fund donation, suggests a significant realignment of tech industry leadership with the president-elect.
The Amazon Prime Video documentary about Melania Trump represents the latest development in Jeff Bezos' apparent reconciliation with Donald Trump. The project, set for release in late 2025, comes amid significant upheaval in major media organizations, including mass resignations at The Washington Post and subscription cancellations following controversial editorial decisions.
This realignment of media and tech industry leaders with the incoming Trump administration marks a notable shift from their previous antagonistic relationship, with implications for editorial independence and political coverage in the years ahead.
