Sen. Elizabeth Warren is spearheading a congressional probe into Amazon’s $40 million purchase of First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary, requesting information about whether the technology company broke anti-bribery statutes in a bid to curry favor with the Trump administration.
The Democrat from Massachusetts, accompanied by Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia and three additional legislators, dispatched correspondence to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy requesting responses about the transaction by March 30. Central to the probe: why Amazon MGM Studios offered such an unparalleled amount for “Melania,” roughly $26 million beyond Disney, the second-highest offeror, establishing it as among the costliest non-concert documentaries ever produced.
The monetary obligation stretches well past the acquisition of rights. Amazon designated a $35 million promotional budget for the production, elevating the complete expenditure to $75 million. Specialists in the field have challenged the business logic underlying the offer, especially given Amazon does not expect to recover its expenditure on the venture.
Around 70 percent of the $40 million sum, approximately $28 million, will flow straight to Melania Trump. The film, which tracks the first lady during the weeks preceding President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, generated $7 million throughout its debut weekend notwithstanding severe criticism from reviewers who characterized it as “favorable propaganda.” On Rotten Tomatoes, the production maintains merely an 11 percent critic score. The production eventually accumulated $16.7 million in aggregate box office revenue.
To contextualize Amazon’s expenditure, the Academy Award-winning documentary “Summer of Soul” was purchased by Searchlight Pictures and Hulu for north of $12 million in 2021—at the time regarded as a groundbreaking sum. Amazon’s outlay for “Melania” exceeds that number by greater than threefold.
The legislators’ correspondence contends that Amazon has significant monetary interests in matters awaiting resolution before the Trump administration. The corporation recently resolved a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) legal action regarding misleading Prime membership practices in September 2025, consenting to remit $2.5 billion—encompassing $1.5 billion in customer reimbursements and a $1 billion civil fine. Amazon additionally confronts another active FTC case asserting unlawful monopolization of internet commerce, with proceedings anticipated in 2027.
“The fact that Amazon is seeking favorable treatment from the Trump Administration while paying a far-above-market sum to produce and promote the Trump family’s film raises questions about Amazon’s exposure under federal anti-bribery law,” the lawmakers wrote.
Warren proceeded further in a public declaration, saying: “Giant corporations shouldn’t be able to bribe their way out of paying taxes or fines they’ve been issued for breaking the law. If Amazon is bribing the Trump administration, the company and its executives should be subject to criminal penalties.”
The connection between President Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has markedly improved during Trump’s second term. Amazon contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Bezos participated in the Jan. 20, 2025 swearing-in ceremony. The technology mogul has undertaken visible initiatives to repair relations with Trump following years of public antagonism during the first administration.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured Bezos’s Blue Origin space installation in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 2, 2026, during the Pentagon’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour. Hegseth lavished compliments on the space enterprise, telling Bezos, “Blue Origin is going to do plenty of winning.” The tour emphasized the administration’s strengthening connections with Bezos’s aerospace pursuits.
A distinct disagreement regarding tariffs was rapidly settled after Trump personally stepped in. When information suggested Amazon was contemplating displaying how Trump’s tariffs were impacting consumer prices, the corporation promptly retreated. President Trump commended the resolution, calling Bezos a “good guy” who “solved the problem very quickly.”
The investigative correspondence, additionally signed by Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, requires that Amazon clarify the business justification underlying its expenditure. It additionally requests all correspondence between the corporation, the Trumps, and government officials pertaining to the film.
Amazon has pushed back on bribery accusations, stating: “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only—because we think customers are going to love it.”
Federal bribery statutes prohibit providing anything of worth to public officials to affect governmental actions. The legislators have granted Amazon until March 30 to answer inquiries about its adherence structure for anti-bribery statutes and all monetary arrangements connected to the film production.
In a distinct occurrence, Bezos convened Washington Post editors and journalists for a confidential luncheon at his Washington, D.C. residence on March 13, where he justified the purchase. He informed personnel he was not directly engaged in the “Melania” discussions, refuted the transaction was an attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration, and maintained the expenditure could still generate profits.
At his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, 2026, President Trump described his wife as a “movie star,” highlighting the documentary’s prominent debut. The probe introduces another dimension of examination to the expanding relationships between the Trump administration and major corporations pursuing advantageous regulatory and policy consideration.
