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Melania Trump<\/strong>\u2019s memoir<\/a>, Melania,<\/em> will be released next week, a newsworthy event given her status as both a former and possibly future first lady. That means media outlets will want to cover the book and, if they can, score an interview with the author. CNN, for example, reportedly reached out to Trump\u2019s publisher two months ago to request an interview, and after \u201cseveral exchanges\u201d about one, it appeared it might actually happen\u2014if the organization was willing to cough up a quarter of a million dollars.<\/p>\n Yes, CNN reports<\/a> that last week, Trump\u2019s publisher, Skyhorse Publishing<\/a>, emailed a document marked \u201cConfidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement.\u201d The agreement, per the outlet, \u201claid out strict terms for an interview and\u00a0use of material from the book,\u201d and \u201cOn top of that, the agreement stipulated that \u2018CNN shall pay a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).\u2019\u201d The document, CNN reports, specified that \u201cthe payment\u00a0would be for an interview with a media company\u2014CNN\u2014as well as for licensing photos and excerpts from the book.\u201d<\/p>\n After a reporter from the media organization asked the company about the highly unusual fee, the publisher claimed it was a mistake. \u201cNeither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA and the document that was sent reflected an internal miscommunication,\u201d Skyhorse\u2019s president and publisher told CNN. \u201cHad CNN signed an NDA, in the normal course of business, we would have approached Melania\u2019s team to discuss [specifics of the interview].\u201d<\/p>\n As CNN notes, it is absolutely not standard practice for a public figure to be paid for an interview\u2014especially one who is the spouse of a political candidate\u2014and newsrooms \u201ctend to have strict guidelines against\u201d doing so. And while Skyhorse has insisted that the former first lady knew nothing of the request, the figure initially demanded just so happens to be in the exact same ballpark as fees she has been paid in the past:<\/p>\n Last\u00a0month, CNN\u00a0revealed\u00a0that the former first lady spoke at two political fundraisers for the Log Cabin Republicans this year, and she was paid $237,500 for an April event, according to former\u00a0president\u00a0Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0latest financial disclosure form. The payment was listed as a \u201cspeaking engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n Records show Melania Trump was also paid $250,000 for a [Log Cabin Republicans] event in December 2022, one of three payments for $250,000 or more that she received for speaking that month, just after the former president announced he was running for reelection, according to Donald Trump\u2019s prior-year financial disclosure form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Regarding the $250,000 request made to CNN, journalist Kate Andersen Brower,<\/strong> author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America\u2019s Modern First Ladies,<\/em> told the outlet, \u201cIt\u2019s totally unprecedented. No former first lady has ever done that.\u201d<\/p>\n Paying for an interview \u201cincentivizes the subject to alter what they\u2019re saying to make it more valuable to the organization, to exaggerate or sensationalize,\u201d Kelly McBride,<\/strong> senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at the Poynter Institute, told CNN. \u201cYour goal when you interview people is to bring their perspective in so you can get closer to the truth, and if they have some sort of incentive to distort that you are failing your audience.\u201d She added, \u201cIt\u2019s super suspect that a political figure\u2019s spouse would want to be paid for something.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Melania Trump declined CNN\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n