Melania Trump's Multimillion-Dollar Side Hustles Spark Scrutiny

First lady Melania Trump has been under scrutiny for her multimillion-dollar side hustles, according to a recent editorial from The Philadelphia Inquirer. One of her biggest paydays came from Amazon, where she received an estimated $40 million for documentary projects during her husband's term in office.

The New York Post reported that she will be releasing a two-part docuseries later this year. Additionally, Trump earned an undisclosed amount for her memoir, 'Melania,' with her publisher reportedly asking for $250,000 in exchange for an interview about the book.

However, not all of her ventures were successful. Her cryptocurrency, the $MELANIA memecoin, launched with an initial market value of around $1.7 billion but fell by approximately 95% before some insiders reportedly made roughly $100 million.

A lawsuit later accused the coin's designers of running a 'pump-and-dump' scheme. The editorial board noted that Trump's ventures are part of what they called unprecedented profiteering across the family, with the FT reporting that they have made around $1 billion in pretax profits from crypto since Trump returned to the White House.

Trump has dismissed criticism of his family's business deals, maintaining that he always puts the nation's interests first. The editorial board referred to this as 'the Art of the Steal,' implying that the Trumps are using their position for personal gain.