Almost two years after losing the election, Donald Trump continues to collect money from his supporters.
Donald Trump has never stopped collecting funds from his supporters after the 2020 presidential race. In the meantime, his companies continued to charge for goods and services from his political parties. As a result, the former president has been able to turn around $ 1.3 million in donation money into business income since he lost the 2020 election, according to a review of recent federal papers.
In the months immediately following the election, most of the money was donated by Trump’s official election commission, Donald J. Trump to president, Inc. the former president owns the space inside Trump Tower. Fifteen days later, another $ 38,000 in rent was transferred from the campaign committee to the same LLC. The Committee also made two payments of $ 3,000 around the same time period to an entity called Trump Restaurants LLC. The former president, who is valued at $ 3 billion, also owns 100% of the company, according to an analysis of documents his company submitted to federal and local governments when he was president. Between the elections and the end of 2020, Trump’s election committee donated $ 113,000 to Trump’s company.
In the New Year, Trump didn’t really shut down his election committee. Instead, it changed its name to PAC Make America Great Again. Beginning January 4, 2021, PAC began directing money to the Trump Organization, donating $ 8,000 to the Trump Hotel Collection by the end of the month. The group also wrote rent checks to the same entities that the campaign had previously paid – $ 38,000 for Trump Tower Commercial LLC approximately monthly, and often another $ 3,000 for Trump Restaurants LLC. It’s unclear why PAC Make America Great Again still had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent in 2021 given the elections were held in 2020. PAC and the Trump Organization officials did not respond to requests for comment. According to a review of Federal Election Commission documents, by the end of February 2022, PAC Make America Great Again had paid Trump companies $ 526,000.
It’s unclear why PAC Make America Great Again still had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent in 2021 given the elections were held in 2020.
While the election commission and its revised branch name slashed high rents, other Trump political groups flashed at the ex-president’s hotels. Nine days after the election, the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee, which raised funds for the Trump campaign and several republican groups at the state level, paid the Trump Hotel Collection $ 294,000. Then smaller sums followed. Trump Victory ultimately spent over $ 300,000 between the election and February 2021, the last time he reported paying Trump’s real estate.
Other beings have taken a slack. In June 2021, the joint fundraising committee that raises money for Trump and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham paid Trump hotels $ 22,000. Six months later, another joint fundraising committee donated $ 34,000 to Mar-a-Lago, the Trump’s Palm Beach club.
Then there was Trump’s PAC leadership, Save America. PAC leaders often allow politicians to hand out money to other candidates they support. In the case of Trump, the group also served as a tool to channel donor money to his company. From February 2021 to May 2022, Trump’s PAC leaders spent $ 213,000 on Trump real estate.
The Save America payments have gained some popularity recently as the Special Commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol took note of the group’s actions. The former president told supporters that they could donate to what is known as the Official Election Defense Fund, even though the fund apparently did not exist, according to the committee. Most of the money went to Save America, which in turn paid a small fraction to Trump’s interests. “There was not only a Big Lie,” said representative Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat. “There has been a great rip off.”
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