True: Trump moved $2.3 million of campaign donor money into his private business.

By: Aswathi K
September 29 2020

Share Article:

Schedule B of the Itemized Disbursements section of the Federal Election Commission filings shows payments made to Trump's private businesses.On Aug 25, 2020, Forbes reported that a review of the latest Federal Election Commission filings shows that President Donald Trump paid his private companies for rent, food, lodging, and other expenses during his reelection campaign. “The richest president in American history, who has yet to donate to his 2020 campaign, has now moved $2.3 million of contributions from other people into his private companies,” it said. The report stated that the president had accepted $38,000 in rent in July through Trump Tower Commercial LLC. This entity owns his Fifth Avenue skyscraper. His campaign has paid the company $1.5 million since he took office, more than any other property in the Trump empire, Forbes stated. The Republican National Committee also coordinated with the campaign to pay Trump Tower Commercial LLC an additional $225,000, it said. Trump got another $8,000 in July via the Trump Corporation, a management company that he owns. The payments were reportedly made for “legal and IT consulting”. Schedule B of the Itemized Disbursements section of the Federal Election Commission filings for July 2020 lists payments made to The Trump Corporation, Trump Hotel Collection, Trump Restaurants LLC, and Trump Tower Commercial LLC, which corroborates the findings of Forbes. David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post reported a similar incident in July. He reported that Trump’s campaign channeled $380,000 to the president’s personal business. Trump organization had stated that the expenses were for a weeklong donor retreat held in early March at Mar-a-Lago. In the same month, the CNBC reported that Trump’s properties had allegedly made over $17 million from the Trump campaign and his joint fundraising committees since 2016. Citing data from the Center for Responsive Politics, that in the 2020 election cycle alone, Trump’s properties have been paid close to $4 million by the president’s campaign. On Sept 7, 2020, The New York Times published a story that brought to light the cash crunch that was being faced by the Trump campaign. “Of the $1.1 billon his campaign and the party raised from the beginning of 2019 through July, more than $800 million has already been spent,” it stated.