When his presidency is behind him, Donald Trump could make a comfortable living off of public speaking engagements alone, according to agents who set up such events. Experts on the pundit speaking circuit told TMZ that Trump could make $1 million or more per speech once he is out of office, and even more overseas. However, this income may be dictated by campaign finance laws if he chooses to go through another presidential run in 2024.
The experts who spoke with TMZ know what famous speakers get paid for big appearances outside of an election year, and they expect Trump to make good money in the industry. They estimated that Trump could be paid around $1 million per speech in the U.S., and closer to $2 million for speeches overseas. His family may be able to cash in, too — they are guessing that Melania Trump could be paid between $75,000 and $125,000 per speech, or as much as $175,000 to speak abroad. Theoretically, if she were to divorce Trump, her paycheck would likely get even bigger.
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These booking experts speculated that Trump and his family would be highly sought-after speakers all over the U.S., where over 72 million Americans voted for him in the 2020 presidential election. They guessed that he will be booked at Republican political events and those that are adjacent to U.S. politics. Overseas, they suspect Trump will be a popular speaker in Russia, Israel, and perhaps other countries as well.
The insiders said that an event like this would come with plenty of non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, which would allow Trump to speak even more freely than usual without his words leaving that room. The speeches would not be recorded in that case, and Trump would be able to sue attendees who shared his words with the press.
The big hurdle for the Trump family might be finding a public relations firm and a talent agency to help set up gigs like this. Industry insiders said that so far, not many agents are itching to work with the Trump family, fearing that it would upset their other talent and potentially lose them clients.
These speculators also expect Trump, Melania and Ivanka to draw the biggest paychecks, with Ivanka pulling in around $100,000 for domestic speeches and $125,000 at international ones. The other Trump siblings are likely to be capped at around $75,000 per speech, wherever they go.
All of this could get even more complicated depending on if and when Trump launches a campaign for the presidency in 2024. If he does so, his speeches will go from private engagements to campaign events and subject to more scrutiny and campaign finance law.
