Former United States President Donald Trump and his allies allegedly transferred political donor money to fund his properties across the country.
Dozens of Republican campaigns and political groups have collected and collectively spent more than $750,000 on properties owned by the former Republican president within the first half of 2021. Nearly half of the money has come from fundraising committees that were directly affiliated with or linked to Trump himself, federal and state campaign disclosure reports said.
Trump's Fundraisers
Out of the $750,000 total funding, the majority was used on the Make America Great Again PAC, which was Trump's presidential campaign committee-turned political action committee. It also paid for the Republican's businesses from January through June, using up at least $210,000.
Five monthly rent payments made up the majority of the payments at $40,000 each for office space in New York City's Trump Tower. The rest of the money was spent on nearly $8,000 in lodging expenses for accommodation at Trump hotels, Yahoo News reported.
Save America, Trump's new PAC, reportedly spent an additional $80,000 to fund the "Trump Hotel Collection" for lodging and meals. The payment was for the course of six months after the Republican left his presidential seat in the White House.
Properties owned by the former president also continued to host high-dollar fundraisers for his political committee in recent months. Trump's joint fundraising committee with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has used up more than $22,000 to fund a golf tournament that was conducted at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida in May. The competition allegedly had participants pay $25,000 each to join.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, also led a new pro-Trump super PAC, the Make America Great Again Action. It spent nearly the same amount as Trump's golf club located in Bedminster, New Jersey. Despite not revealing how much the committee raised from the fundraiser, it was reportedly about $705,000 in April and May, ABC News reported.
Charging Rent Money
In December 2020, one of Trump's old committees transferred $30 million worth of seed money to Save America. Supporters of the Republican also raised more of the money, which later reached $90 million by the end of June. Trump also drew money to fund personal agendas from that massive fund. He charged Save America $79,000 using his hotel empire after leaving office, an analysis reported.
While massive, the amount of money the Republican has used from fundraiser money pales in comparison to his overall revenue from his businesses which could generate up to $450 million this year alone. But on January 21, the Trump Organization also charged Trump's old campaign committee $38,000 in rent, using Trump Tower Commercial LLC to charge the money. Through which, Trump maintained a 100% interest in his Fifth Avenue skyscraper.
Trump Restaurants LLC, a separate company, also collected rent payment for what some believe is a kiosk in the lower level of Trump Tower. Many tourists and Trump fans previously paraded through the atrium of the building. But visitors dwindled by mid-2020 when the coronavirus pandemic was raging, Forbes reported.
