Melania Trump's publisher requested a $250,000 fee from CNN in exchange for an interview with the former First Lady in a document labeled "Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement".
CNN had been corresponding with Skyhorse Publishing for months in order to set up an interview with Trump ahead of the release of her memoir, titled "MELANIA". Last week, they received an email containing the aforementioned document, which laid out strict terms the news channel would have to agree to in order to conduct an interview with Trump.
"CNN shall pay a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)," the agreement stated. CNN confirmed that they did not sign the document.
“This is completely unprecedented.” The Trump grifting never stops. Melania Trump’s team wants a whopping $250,000 for her to be interviewed by CNN…to promote her own book! (Video: CNN) pic.twitter.com/tSQKiuYxco
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 3, 2024
The document also contained signature lines designated to Trump's agent, CNN, and Skyhorse Publishing president Tony Lyons.
Skyhorse Publishing later told a different journalist from CNN that the inclusion of the licensing fee in the agreement was erroneous.
"Neither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA and the document that was sent reflected an internal miscommunication," Tony Lyons, the president and publisher of Skyhorse, told CNN in a statement. "Had CNN signed an NDA, in the normal course of business, we would have approached Melania's team to discuss [specifics of the interview]," Lyons said.
Checkbook journalism, referring to the practice of journalists paying sources for information, is typically seen as unethical and is frowned upon in most newsrooms. In addition to this, Melania Trump is the spouse of a former President and current presidential candidate, making the request even more unusual.
Furthermore, CNN and employees that were to work on the interview with Trump were asked to sign a separate NDA entitling Skyhorse Publishing and Trump $100,000 per breach of terms.
The Independent reported that the hefty price tag is consistent with fees Trump has charged for other appearances. Trump spoke at a Log Cabin Republicans event in Palm Beach, Florida in April for $237,500. Furthermore, she earned $250,000 for speaking at another event with the same group in December of 2022.
"It is 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," said Anita McBride, director of The Legacies of America's First Ladies Initiative at American University and a former special assistant in the George W. Bush White House. "That's the premise of her book. I've made my choices and not constricted by anyone else before her."
"It's super suspect that a political figure's spouse would want to be paid for something," McBride continued.
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