Donald Trump, who is worth an estimated $6.4 billion, has not donated a penny to his 2024 presidential campaign, opting to raise funds from supporters around the country instead. Meanwhile, his businesses have continued to charge his political operation for food, transportation and facilities. As a result, Trump has moved $4.6 million of campaign money into his business empire, according to a review of Federal Election Commission records.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2024/06/12/trump-shifts-nearly-5-million-of-campaign-money-into-his-private-business/
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Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2024/06/12/trump-shifts-nearly-5-million-of-campaign-money-into-his-private-business/
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today on Forbes, Trump shifts nearly $5 million of campaign money into his private business.
00:08Donald Trump, who is worth an estimated $6.4 billion, has not donated a penny to his 2024
00:15presidential campaign, opting to raise funds from supporters around the country instead.
00:21Meanwhile, his businesses have continued to charge his political operation for food, transportation
00:26and facilities.
00:28As a result, Trump has moved $4.6 million of campaign money into his business empire.
00:35This, all according to a review of Federal Election Commission records.
00:40The bulk of that cash, some $4.2 million, has flowed to one of Trump's aviation companies,
00:47Tag Air.
00:49The Secret Service, which has to travel with Trump, has paid more than $800,000 for airfare
00:54to his campaign, perhaps contributing some of that $4.2 million.
01:00The former president owns a 1991 Boeing 757, which required a $4 million engine overhaul
01:06around the time he left the White House.
01:08After speaking with six aviation experts, Forbes estimates the plane is probably worth
01:13about $12 million.
01:16Trump's businesses have long charged his campaign for various services, though never under quite
01:21the same circumstances.
01:23During the 2016 race, Trump invested $66 million of his own money into his campaign, far more
01:29than the roughly $13 million his campaign paid his business, leaving him with a net
01:34loss.
01:35In 2020, the former president gave nothing to his campaign while continuing to collect
01:41money, thereby moving about $3 million of donor funds into his business.
01:46This year, during his 2024 election campaign, he's set to collect far more, as he flies
01:51around the country on his own plane rather than Air Force One, allowing him to transform
01:56his private jet into something of a charter service.
02:00When asked about the transactions, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign deflected, criticizing
02:05Joe Biden's travel to Delaware and Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings, while
02:10pointing out that Trump donated his $400,000-a-year White House salary and left office poorer than
02:15he entered it.
02:17The former president, a frequent Florida traveler who handed over management of a multi-billion
02:22dollar international business to his sons, has charged his campaign far more than he
02:26donated in salary.
02:29On top of the airfare, Trump's 2024 campaign has spent $332,000 at Mar-a-Lago, the private
02:36club that doubles as Trump's personal residence.
02:39The former president announced his current White House bid from the club in November
02:432022, and the campaign forked over $68,000 the next month.
02:48In June 2023, special counsel Jack Smith announced an indictment of the former president for
02:54allegedly retaining secret documents at the club and obstructing attempts to retrieve
02:59them.
03:00But the party at the club kept rolling.
03:02The campaign spent $86,000 at Mar-a-Lago in November 2023, then continued to toss in $10,000
03:08here, $15,000 there, over the ensuing several months.
03:14Trump sprinkled some around at his other properties, too.
03:17His campaign spent $20,000 at Trump National Doral, a golf resort the former president
03:22owns in Miami.
03:24Another $36,000 went to the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, which the former president owns
03:29alongside billionaire Phil Ruffin.
03:32Other Trump-connected groups have also paid Trump's businesses.
03:36His 2020 campaign, which morphed into a political action committee, rented space in Trump Tower,
03:42spending about $500,000 from the November 2020 election through February 2022.
03:48After his 2020 run, Trump also created something called a leadership pack, which politicians
03:53often use to support their allies.
03:56Trump's group, named Save America, instead spent most of its money covering legal expenses.
04:03Save America also spent $335,000 at Trump Hotels.
04:08There are also joint fundraising committees, which allow the former president to team up
04:12with others to gather contributions.
04:14Trump's joint fundraising committees have paid his businesses about $1 million since
04:19the former president lost his spot in the White House.
04:23Add it all up, the $4.6 million from the 2024 campaign and millions more from Trump's other
04:29groups, and his businesses have collected about $7 million in total since the 2020 election.
04:36Not a bad consolation prize.
04:39For full coverage, check out Dan Alexander's piece on Forbes.com.
04:44This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:46Thanks for tuning in.