Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pushed back Wednesday against accusations that his companies are attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump, insisting he had no involvement in Amazon’s high-profile documentary about First Lady Melania Trump — while also arguing the project turned out to be smart business.
During an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, host Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed Bezos on criticism from some observers who believe recent moves by Amazon and The Washington Post were designed to soften relations with Trump and his administration.
Among the controversies cited was Melania, the documentary that followed the first lady around the time of Trump’s second inauguration. The film drew widespread attention not only because of its subject matter, but because of its unusually large reported budget. According to the article, the documentary carried a production cost of roughly $40 million, along with another $35 million in marketing expenses — eye-popping numbers for a nonfiction film.
Despite skepticism surrounding the project’s financial viability, the documentary grossed more than $16 million in theaters worldwide and later moved to Amazon’s Prime streaming platform. While it reportedly fell well short of recouping its overall costs theatrically, the movie still delivered the strongest opening for a non-music documentary in a decade.
Bezos dismissed claims that the project was politically motivated or connected to any effort to gain influence with Trump.
“Yes, the Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die,” Bezos told Sorkin, addressing repeated speculation that he personally helped arrange or support the documentary after visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
“It’s not true. We have denied it. Melania’s office has denied it,” Bezos said. “I had nothing to do with that.”
At the same time, Bezos defended the film as a sound commercial decision by Amazon executives.
“People are very curious about Melania,” he said, adding that the documentary performed well both in theaters and on streaming.
The billionaire also pointed to another Amazon project, Project Hail Mary, saying he similarly had no involvement in greenlighting it despite its success. Bezos used the example to argue that Amazon is simply too large for him to personally oversee every entertainment decision made by the company.
“And so, you know, Amazon’s a big company, it makes a lot of decisions,” he said.
The interview also touched on criticism surrounding changes at The Washington Post, which Bezos owns. Critics have argued that shifts in tone at the paper — particularly in its opinion section — reflect an attempt to avoid conflict with Trump or appeal more broadly to conservatives.
Bezos rejected that interpretation as well, saying he wants the paper’s editorial pages to defend “free markets” and “individual personal liberties,” principles he described as foundational to American success.
“I think those are founding pillars of America,” Bezos said.
The exchange highlighted the increasingly difficult position many large corporations and media organizations face in today’s polarized political climate, where nearly every business decision is viewed through a partisan lens. Even entertainment projects that might once have been treated as straightforward commercial ventures are now scrutinized for political motives and ideological signaling.
At the same time, the debate surrounding Melania underscores how public fascination with political figures — particularly during moments of national tension and global instability — continues to drive major media investments, even when the financial returns remain uncertain.
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