March 21, 2019
“I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.”
That’s what now-President Donald Trump famously stated at the start of his campaign in June 2015; noting in a follow-up tweet, “By self-funding my campaign, I am not controlled by my donors, special interests or lobbyists. I am only working for the people of the U.S.!”
And he did largely finance his primary campaign. But after he was officially named the Republican nominee for president, his financing model changed. From July 2016 to November of 2016, outsiders contributed $234 million while Trump put up just $16 million.
And he has been “on the take” since then, according to a report by Forbes. In fact, the president has charged his own re-election campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging, and other expenses since taking office, according to a Forbes analysis of the latest campaign filings.
Although outsiders have contributed more than $50 million to the 2020 re-election effort, the “billionaire” president has not handed over any of his own cash, Forbes says. The net effect: $1.3 million of donor money has turned into $1.3 million of Trump money.
Last December, Forbes first reported on the first $1.1 million that President Trump moved from his campaign into his business, The Trump Organization. An accounting of the money goes as follows, according to the business news outlet:
- The campaign put more than $800,000 into Trump Tower Commercial, the holding company through which Trump owns his interest in the original Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.
- Trump Tower Commercial took in an additional $225,000 in rent from the Republican National Committee, which coordinated those payments with the campaign.
- The campaign also has paid $54,000 to Trump Plaza, which controls a property that includes two brownstone apartment buildings in New York City. (The reason for those payments, which are listed as “rent,” remains unclear, according to Forbes.).
- Trump Restaurants has received $60,000 in campaign funds (ostensibly, for a kiosk where tourists can buy T-shirts, hats and other 2020 campaign memorabilia).
Since then, his campaign has filed additional documentation, showing that it spent another $180,000 at Trump-owned properties in the final three months of 2018.
Regarding the Trump Tower rent, alone, Forbes said that campaign representatives did not respond to requests for comment, and an RNC official declined to answer questions on the payments—“leaving it unclear exactly how much space they leased inside Trump Tower.”
But it appears to be plenty, the news outlet said, noting that, “ Leading up to the 2016 election, the president’s campaign paid an average of $2,700 in monthly Trump Tower rent for every person listed in campaign filings as receiving a ‘payroll’ payment. The 2020 operation, by contrast, is shelling out an average of $6,300 in monthly rent for every such person.”
The rent for the tourist kiosk at Trump Restaurants also appears to be high. The Trump Organization did not respond to a list of questions, including whether the stand is in fact the basis for the payments and how many square feet it occupies. However, a Forbes reporter paced out the space to take a rough measurement of 60 square feet.
With monthly payments of $3,000, the magazine noted, that implies that the campaign is paying $600 per square foot in annual rent for the kiosk. By comparison, Forbes reported, Gucci rents prime space upstairs, along Fifth Avenue, for only $440 per square foot.
Whether the rent at any of these business locations has been misrepresented or not is a key question—because federal regulations allow candidates to put campaign money into their own businesses only if they pay going rates.
Finally, Trump’s 2020 campaign also has spent about $120,000 at the president’s hotel in Washington, D.C. The hotel has been the focus of an emoluments-related lawsuit by Maryland and Washington, D.C. plaintiffs, who claim that the president has used his luxury inn near the White House to unconstitutionally profit from his political office.
The president’s own spending at the hotel—and reimbursements from the campaign—probably will not be challenged. However, the money he has reaped from foreign diplomats who wish to gain favor by staying at the Trump International Hotel—and from U.S. politicians who hold dinners and events there—may come back to haunt him as the case moves ahead.
Research contact: @DanAlexander21
