What did the Associated Press accounting ledgers reveal in detail about payments to models at the New York firm linked to Melania?
Executive summary
The Associated Press obtained decades-old accounting ledgers, contracts and related records from Metropolitan International Management that show Melania Trump was paid for 10 U.S. modeling jobs totaling roughly $20,056 in the seven weeks before she had legal permission to work in the United States, according to AP reporting [1]. The files — authenticated by a former employee and consistent with court exhibit markings — include model ledgers, a management agreement signed by Trump, and entries showing payroll details such as federal tax deductions, though interpretations of those entries have differed among sources and parties [1] [2] [3].
1. What the ledgers itemized: dates, gigs and dollar amounts
The AP’s copies of the continuously fed yellowed accounting ledgers list model-by-model entries that identify Melania Trump by her professional name and record payments for 10 U.S. jobs during a window stretching from mid-July through late September 1996, with the gross total for those entries reported as $20,056 for the period before a work visa was granted in October 1996 [1] [3]. Some contemporaneous reports cite a slightly different gross figure — for example one outlet referenced $20,526 from the same ledger set — but the AP’s published total and timeline form the primary, contemporaneous accounting cited in mainstream reporting [1] [4].
2. Authentication and provenance of the records
The ledgers and related documents were part of materials recovered from storage and tied to the dissolution and later legal disputes of the now-defunct Metropolitan International Management; the AP said the paper bore exhibit markings matching documents filed in New York state court and that a former firm employee authenticated the records while speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation [3] [1]. The AP reported it had sought copies since August and obtained the files from employees who had maintained the records after the firm folded [1].
3. Payroll details and bookkeeping signals in the files
Beyond gross payments, the ledgers included bookkeeping notations consistent with payroll treatment: the AP and PBS noted entries showing that the firm deducted federal taxes from models’ gross earnings, including entries tied to Trump, which suggests the firm recorded these earnings as taxable payments at the time [2]. Those ledger lines do not, by themselves, resolve questions about visa status or legal interpretations; they do, however, document how the firm accounted for compensation and taxes in its internal books [2].
4. Context, denials and competing explanations
Paolo Zampolli, a former partner connected to the agency, told AP reporters the contract language matched the firm’s standard documents and previously told the AP he had believed she had the proper paperwork — an account that sits alongside the ledger entries showing payments before the October visa date [3] [5]. Reporting and commentary diverged afterward: some framed the ledger evidence as proof of work before authorization, while others highlighted ambiguities such as execution dates on contracts and where responsibility for immigration verification lay; the AP’s documents are factual accounting snapshots, but interpretation about legality has been handled differently by sources [3] [5].
5. What the documents do and do not prove
The ledgers provide detailed contemporaneous records that Melania Trump was paid for specific U.S. modeling jobs and that the firm recorded tax deductions — facts the AP documented and corroborated via authentication and exhibit cross-references [1] [2]. The documents show payments and dates but do not, by themselves, adjudicate legal liability, immigration filings, or internal visa processing steps beyond what’s printed in the files; journalists and those cited in the reporting drew differing legal and ethical conclusions from the same accounting evidence [1] [3] [2].