Are interviews with Melania Trump really $250K?

Melania Trump is releasing a new memoir on Oct. 8, 2024, with the imaginative title Melania, and ahead of the launch, CNN contacted the book’s publisher — Skyhorse Publishing — for an interview with the former first lady.

Responses were given and the interview was arranged, but the network also received a demand for money in exchange for the interview. “CNN shall pay a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000),” the agreement stated.

In addition to the exorbitant fee, the document also came with a Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement meant to be signed by all CNN employees working on the interview, and a breach of the agreement would cost $100,000 in damages. The $250,000, as detailed in the contract, was for the interview, as well as for licensing fees for photos and passages from the unreleased memoir that will be used for the interview.

The practice is unusual, especially for a person involved in politics, and CNN did not sign on the dotted line. Instead, a CNN journalist reached out to the publisher about the fee, and Skyhorse Publishing responded by saying that the demand for payment was sent by mistake. “Neither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA and the document that was sent reflected internal miscommunication,” Skyhorse Publishing President Tony Lyons stated. He also said that had CNN signed the agreement, they would have reached out to Trump’s team to talk about the specifics of the interview.

Is this standard practice for a Melania Trump interview?

The director of American University’s First Ladies Initiative, Anita McBride, said that demanding fees for interviews is unconventional. “It’s a consistent practice with Mrs. Trump to make the choices that work for her and to be unburdened by any past practice by anyone else. She is her own enterprise when it comes to everything in her life,” McBride stated.

The Poynter Institute’s Senior Vice President of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, Kelly McBride, told CNN that asking for payment for an interview is overstepping ethical boundaries, as the monetary incentive may skew the interview process. “It’s super suspect that a political figure’s spouse would want to be paid for something,” she added.

Melania Trump has been interviewed by Fox News about her memoir, and according to a spokesperson for the network, they didn’t pay for the interview or licensing for the photos used in the segment. CNN reached out to other networks, including CBS, NBC, and ABC, and asked whether they received a similar demand payment, but the spokespeople for the networks declined to comment on the matter.

The payment demand may have been a miscommunication, but CNN reports that Melania received about the same amount for speaking engagements at a few events. Per Donald Trump’s financial disclosure form, Melania was paid $237,500 for a political fundraising event in April. In Dec. 2022, the former first lady was also paid $250,000 at a Log Cabin Republican event.

Two other payments of $250,000 were reflected on Donald’s prior financial disclosure form for Melania’s speaking engagements in Florida and California just before her husband announced his plans to run for reelection. CNN reached out to Melania’s spokesperson, who declined to make a statement regarding the interview fee.