Melania Trump Made £700,000 From These Photos Last Year

Melania Trump has been making money from news organisations without them even knowing, earning between $100,000 (£75,000) and $1,000,000 (£758,000) in 2017 alone.

Here’s how: Melania and her family shot 187 glamourous photos showing off their lavish lifestyle (you know marble columns and Louis Vuitton trunks) with photographer Regine Mahaux – who is known for her opulent portraits – over the course the six years between 2010 and 2016.

Melania then secured a deal with leading photo agency Getty to get a cut whenever a media organisation downloads and uses one of those images. The agreement with Getty also stipulates that the images can be used in ‘positive stories only’, according to NBC.

The revelation comes as Donald Trump reveals details of his finances - but this is certainly not what anyone expected to find out.

It's worth noting that it’s not actually illegal for Melania to earn money while being first lady; previous first ladies have released books while their husbands were in office, but donated the proceeds to charity.

The more worrying element of the deal is the stipulation to use the images in a positive light only – although some news organisations dispute that they used the images under those terms.

Here are some examples of where the images have been used so far, according to NBC. We are obviously obsessed with the picture of a younger Barron straddling a stuffed lion - there's a lot to unpick here.