Fresh off the critical and commercial disappointment of the Melania documentary, the US First Lady is set to return to screens in a new docuseries on Amazon Prime. The announcement came from her senior adviser, Marc Beckman, during an appearance on Real America's Voice.
Beckman confirmed the project, saying: "We are launching a docuseries, which is a total different experience, completely new, on Amazon Prime exclusively. That will be coming this fall. It's confirmed, and I hope everybody tunes in, because it's going to show a part of the first lady that hasn't been seen yet."
The series will follow Melania Trump at the outset of her husband's second term, promising an inside look at her private life and philanthropic activities. It arrives just months after the theatrical release of Melania, a documentary produced by Amazon MGM Studios that chronicled the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump's second inauguration.
A costly venture for Amazon
The earlier film proved to be a significant financial burden for Amazon. According to The New York Times, the company paid Melania Trump's production company $40 million for the rights, with an additional $35 million spent on marketing. A financial disclosure report from the US Office of Government Ethics, released in June, showed that Melania personally earned $10.71 million from the film's license agreement.
The documentary, directed by Brett Ratner—his first major project in years after multiple accusations of sexual misconduct—ended its theatrical run with just $16.6 million worldwide against a combined budget of $75 million. Critics were largely unimpressed, and the film also drew scrutiny from US lawmakers who questioned whether it complied with federal anti-bribery laws.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos defended the investment as a "good business decision," insisting that the company's dealings with the Trump family were non-partisan. In our own review, we described the film as a "self-congratulatory portrait of privilege" and a "cynical attempt by Jeff Bezos to curry favour with Trump," calling it an "anti-documentary cash-grab orchestrated by people who only care about money and the furthering of empty mythologies designed to feed the Trump brand."
The new docuseries, however, is being positioned as a different kind of project. Beckman emphasised that it will offer a fresh perspective, though details remain scarce. The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues to dominate headlines, from renewed diplomatic efforts with Iran to migration debates along Europe's southern border.
For European audiences, the saga underscores the increasingly blurred lines between politics, entertainment, and commerce in the United States. The decision by Amazon—a global tech giant with significant European operations—to invest heavily in content centred on a polarising political figure raises questions about corporate strategy and public accountability.
Whether the new series will fare better than its predecessor remains to be seen. But with the first lady's team promising unseen aspects of her life, and Amazon clearly willing to double down on the Trump brand, the streaming wars are set to take another curious turn this autumn.
