Melania Trump cut a deal with Getty Images where news organizations indirectly paid the Trumps royalties for pictures that were only to be used for positive coverage.
NBC News reported, “President Donald Trump’s most recent financial disclosure reveals that in 2017 the first lady earned at least $100,000 from Getty Images for the use of any of a series of 187 photos of the first family shot between 2010 and 2016 by Belgian photographer Regine Mahaux. It’s not unheard of for celebrities to earn royalties from photos of themselves, but it’s very unusual for the wife of a currently serving elected official. More problematic for the many news organizations that have published or broadcast the images, however, is that Getty’s licensing agreement stipulates the pictures can be used in ‘positive stories only.’
The Trumps are trying to control media coverage
There are several problems with what the Trumps are doing, but the biggest one is their attempt to control the coverage that pictures appear in. The news organizations would have to agree to only use the images in ‘positive stories’ before they could obtain the license for the photo. (PoliticusUSA has an agreement with Reuters, so we have not paid the Trumps any fees for images). The Trumps are treating the White House as the ultimate cash grab. Melania Trump holds no official title in the United States government, but her selling of photos showed up in Donald Trump’s financial disclosure which indicates another effort to use the presidency for personal profit.
No news organization should pay royalty fees directly or indirectly for photos if that money goes into the pocket of a public official.
The Trumps are trying to control what people see through backdoor deals.
The corruption touches every corner of the Trump family, and their greedy cash grabs are crimes against the institution of the presidency.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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