Donald Trump is using his own campaign to pay his own businesses

Washington, D.C. — This morning, Brad Woodhouse, President of Correct The Record, released the following statement in reaction to reports that Donald Trump has been paying himself through his presidential campaign—to the tune of millions of dollars.

TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN FUNNELED MILLIONS THROUGH HIS BUSINESSES

Donald Trump’s campaign spent at least $6.2 million at Trump businesses through May 2016. “Through the end of May, Trump’s campaign had plunged at least $6.2 million back into Trump corporate products and services, a review of Federal Election Commission filings shows. That’s about 10 percent of his total campaign expenditures. Unlike in the primary when Trump touted his ability to pay his own way, he has been on an urgent fundraising quest for more than a month. His campaign began June with $1.3 million in the bank, compared with the $42 million presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had amassed.”

• Donald Trump’s campaign spent over $1,370,000 at businesses with “Trump” in the name through May 31. “Recipients of payments from Trump campaign with ‘Trump’ in name, through May 31. Doesn’t include Mar-a-Lago/planes.”
• Donald Trump’s campaign paid $350,000 in the month of May to Trump’s private jet company. “And the Trump campaign’s spending offered no signs of building a national campaign infrastructure. The biggest expenditures included $350,000 for the use of Trump’s private jet[.]”
• Donald Trump’s campaign reimbursed Trump for rent paid for campaign space in his own building. “In the beginning months of his presidential bid, Trump paid about $350,000 out of pocket to rent campaign space in his own building and to cover the salaries of some of the Trump Organization employees he’d moved onto his campaign staff. FEC reports show the campaign reimbursed him for those costs. In May, the campaign paid Trump an additional $45,000 for more rent and payroll.”
• Donald Trump’s campaign paid $493,000 in the month of May to rent Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the Trump winery, and two of Trump’s golf clubs. “And the Trump campaign’s spending offered no signs of building a national campaign infrastructure. The biggest expenditures included […] $493,000 to rent Trump facilities such as Mar-A-Lago, the Trump winery, and two of his golf clubs; and $208,000 on hats.”
• MarketWatch: “Of the $6.7 million the Trump campaign spent in May, nearly 20% went to Trump-owned businesses or family members.” “Another eyebrow-raising tidbit: Of the $6.7 million the Trump campaign spent in May, nearly 20% went to Trump-owned businesses or family members. Furthermore, the filing suggests that Trump himself is drawing a salary from the campaign, which would be highly unusual.”
• MarketWatch: “Donald Trump’s campaign is almost broke, and is paying an unusual amount of money to Trump-owned businesses.” “Donald Trump’s campaign is almost broke, and is paying an unusual amount of money to Trump-owned businesses. That’s according to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s FEC filing, details of which were released Monday night.”

Donald Trump’s campaign paid $4.3 million to Trump businesses through the end of March. “All told, the campaign has paid Trump entities $4.3 million through March 31, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amounts to nearly ten percent of the campaign’s total expenditures, and taken together are second only to Rick Reed Media, a G.O.P. advertising consultant.”

Donald Trump used campaign funds to pay his air travel company, Tag Air, $3.7 million through the end of March. “Companies that Trump owns or controls have charged the campaign for an array of expenses. The biggest line item is air travel — a Trump company called Tag Air, which operates Trump’s aged 757, collected $3.7 million as of the end of March.”

• Donald Trump’s campaign paid a quarter of a million dollars in rent to Trump Tower. “About $2.7 million more was paid to at least seven companies Mr. Trump owns or to people who work for his real estate and branding empire, repaying them for services provided to his campaign. That total included more than $2 million for flights on his own planes and helicopter, a quarter of a million dollars to his Fifth Avenue office tower, and even $66,000 to Keith Schiller, his bodyguard and the head of security at the Trump Organization.”
• New York Times: Donald Trump was “in effect taking millions of dollars out of one pocket and depositing it into another.” “While the convoluted accounting is required by law — so that Mr. Trump’s companies do not make illegal corporate contributions directly to his campaign — it also means that Mr. Trump is in effect taking millions of dollars out of one pocket and depositing it into another.”
• New York Times: “About three-quarters of Mr. Trump’s total campaign spending has either gone to reimburse his own businesses or has been covered by funds from grass-roots donors.” “What remains is a quintessentially Trumpian endeavor that blurs the line between campaigning and brand-building and complicates Mr. Trump’s claims that he is funding his own White House campaign. About three-quarters of Mr. Trump’s total campaign spending has either gone to reimburse his own businesses or has been covered by funds from grass-roots donors, according to an analysis by The New York Times of F.E.C. reports.”
• Donald Trump claimed income on his personal financial disclosure that appeared to be spending by his own campaign. “What’s more it appears some of what Trump claims as income, which is really revenue, appears to be spending by his own campaign. Revenue from leasing out one of his planes rose to $3.7 million. But that’s likely money that was spent by Trump’s own campaign for usage of the plane, as others have pointed out.”
• Quartz HEADLINE: “25% of Donald Trump’s political spending goes to his own companies”
• Daily Beast HEADLINE: “Donald Trump Is Paying Himself to Run for President”

Donald Trump’s campaign spent $2.2 million at Trump businesses between his announcement in June 2015 and the end of the year. “In some ways, Donald Trump’s campaign is just like any other. His staff racks up bills from Staples and Burger Heaven, McDonald’s, Famous Original Ray’s Pizza, and Taco Bell. But the tinsel-haired reality TV star has an obvious advantage over his rivals: The name that seems to come up most often on the list of businesses the Trump campaign pays is…Trump. Between June 16, when he announced his candidacy from the lobby of Trump Tower, through the end of 2015, the Trump campaign spent $2.2 million patronizing Trump businesses.”

• FEC experts said that Donald Trump’s reliance on his own businesses was unprecedented for a presidential candidate. “FEC experts I spoke with suggested that the case of Trump is an unprecedented one. Never before has a candidate funneled so much of his money into his own campaign and then relied on his own businesses to run that campaign.”
• Campaign finance expert: “A lot of it is going back into [Trump’s] pocket indirectly.” “‘It’s kind of a nice deal for Trump,’ another experienced campaign finance attorney said. ‘It’s very common for candidates to loan money to their campaign. It’s even not unusual for a candidate to have the campaign purchase goods or services, usually rent, from an entity that’s owned by the campaign. But the scale here is completely different.’ Millions of dollars are funneling into his campaign, both from himself and from his followers, ‘and a lot of it is going back into his pocket indirectly,’ the attorney said. ‘It’s basically recycling.’”

TRUMP FEATURED TRUMP-BRANDED BUSINESSES AND PRODUCTS AT CAMPAIGN EVENTS

Associated Press: “Trump often sounds like he’s promoting products he profits from.” “From the beginning of his campaign, Trump has pointed to his business success as his fundamental qualification for the job of president. He often references his assets and projects — from the skating rink in Manhattan’s Central Park, which he rebuilt, to his many skyscrapers — as evidence of what distinguishes him from what he describes as the ‘all talk, no action politicians.’ Trump often sounds like he’s promoting products he profits from, such as that golf tournament. Of particular pride in recent months has been his transformation of Washington, D.C.’s Old Post Office Pavilion into a hotel.”

Steaks

Donald Trump used a campaign event to promote Trump-branded steaks. “Raw meat — of the real and rhetorical kinds — was front and center last night. ‘Do we have steaks? We have Trump steaks,’ Trump boasted. ‘If you want to take one, we’ll charge you about, what, 50 bucks a steak?’” [NPR, 3/9/16]

Hotel

Donald Trump used a campaign event to promote his newest hotel project. “It was billed as a campaign event, but all Donald Trump wanted to do was show off his fancy new property. Trump led a horde of national media on a literal runaround of the hotel he’s building in the Old Post Office, just blocks from the White House he hopes to soon call home. […] The Republican front-runner’s campaign had advertised the event as a campaign press conference, but it ended up feeling more like a marketing stunt. Trump stood in front of a Trump Hotels podium, flanked by blown-up artist’s renderings of the new hotel’s design.”

• Donald Trump: “We’re building a magnificent hotel.” “Trump often sounds like he’s promoting products he profits from, such as that golf tournament. Of particular pride in recent months has been his transformation of Washington, D.C.’s Old Post Office Pavilion into a hotel. ‘We’re building a magnificent hotel,’ Trump bragged to the crowd in Tampa this week. ‘I don’t even like to say that I’m two years ahead of schedule.’”

Wine

Donald Trump used a campaign event to promote Trump-branded wine. “‘We make the finest wine. As good a wine as you can get anywhere in the world.’ (March 8 in Jupiter, Fla.) None of the wines from Trump Winery made the top 100 list of the best wines in 2015 as ranked by Wine Spectator Magazine. Looking at just Virginia wines, none of Trump’s wines were finalists in the flagship 2016 Governors’ Cup.”

Water

Donald Trump used a campaign event to promote Trump-branded water. “‘We sell water and we have water, and it’s a very successful water company,’ Trump said, dismissing a mocking comment last week from Mitt Romney. ‘It’s a private little water company and I supply the water for all my places and it’s very good.’”

• The Week HEADLINE: “Donald Trump turns his press conference into an infomercial featuring Trump wine, steaks, and water”
• Politico: Donald Trump’s press conference “veered into sales pitches for his own product lines.” “All three networks stuck with Trump’s long press conference even as it veered into sales pitches for his own product lines, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton, who had won the Mississippi primary in a landslide and was neck-and-neck in Michigan, spoke at the same time.”
• Donald Trump’s water company income increased by more than $133,000 in its most recent reporting period. “Trump’s relentless product branding while on the campaign trail might be helping, too. Trump Ice LLC, the bottled water company, brought in income of more than $413,000 in the most recent reporting period, up from $280,000.”

Books

Donald Trump used campaign appearances to promote his books. TRUMP: “You know, I wrote ‘The Art of the Deal,’ I wrote many bestsellers, like ‘The Art of the Deal’ — everybody read the — who has read ‘The Art of the Deal’ in this room? Everybody. (LAUGHTER) I always say — I always say, a deep, deep second to the Bible. The Bible is the best. The Bible — the Bible blows it away. There’s nothing like the Bible, but ‘The Art of the Deal’ was about — in fact there are a few of them right over there. But ‘The Art of the Deal’ was the best-selling business book, and Obama didn’t read it and Kerry didn’t read it.”  [Donald Trump remarks at Liberty University, 1/18/16]

• Donald Trump: “It’s not good if our leaders are incompetent. It’s not good if they’ve never read ‘The Art of the Deal,’ one of the great books of all time.” “It’s not good if our leaders are incompetent. It’s not good if they’ve never read ‘The Art of the Deal,’ one of the great books of all time.” [Donald Trump rally in Dubuque, IA, 8/25/15]
• Sales of The Art of the Deal have increased from 3,000 copies in 2014 to 47,000 in 2015. “Mr. Trump himself can seem hazy on the distinction between his political and business pursuits. Virtually every Trump speech includes a reference to one of his hotels or casinos; recently he heaped praise on the Doral, the luxury golf resort outside Miami he acquired in 2012. He often suggests that the Obama administration should have read his book ‘The Art of the Deal’ before negotiating the Iran nuclear agreement. (As Mr. Wilson suspected, sales of that 1987 best seller have lately skyrocketed, from 3,000 copies in 2014 to 47,000 in 2015.)”
• Donald Trump: “My new book is really successful, Crippled America. I really — I hope everybody will go out and buy it.” “My new book is really successful, Crippled America. I really — I hope everybody will go out and buy it. That’s really successful.” [Donald Trump remarks at 2015 Sunshine Summit, 11/13/15]

TRUMP USED HIS CAMPAIGN AS A PLATFORM TO DEFEND AND PROMOTE HIS FOR-PROFIT UNIVERSITY

Donald Trump used his campaign as a platform to launch racially charged attacks against a judge overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University. “Donald Trump is intensifying his attacks on the federal judge presiding over fraud lawsuits against Trump University. On Friday the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, dismissing criticism from legal experts on the right and left, pressed his case against U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, saying the Indiana-born judge is biased against him because ‘he’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.’ Trump made the remarks, and others like it, repeatedly, in interviews with CNN and The Wall Street Journal, referring to Judge Curiel variously as ‘of Mexican heritage’ or just ‘Mexican.’ But the message was always the same, that the judge had what Trump called ‘a conflict’ because of his ethnicity.”

• Donald Trump urged a judge overseeing a case against Trump University to give him “a fair shake” in a national interview on his candidacy. “Donald Trump, under a barrage of pressure from inside and out of his party, seemed to play down his past critiques of a federal judge in a Monday interview. ‘I want him to be a fair guy,’ Trump told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly of Indiana-born federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the case against Trump University. ‘Mexican or not Mexican: All I want him to do is to give me a fair shake.’ The presumptive GOP nominee has been extremely critical of Curiel, charging that he cannot impartially rule over the case because of his Mexican heritage, and labeling him a ‘hater’ and ‘a Mexican.’”
• Donald Trump said that he planned to reopen Trump University after the end of his fraud case. “Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to eventually reopen Trump University, the now-defunct real estate school that is currently the subject of fraud allegations. ‘After the litigation is disposed of and the case won, I have instructed my execs to open Trump U(?), so much interest in it!’ he said on Twitter, referring to the class-action lawsuit against the organization. ‘I will be pres.’”

TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN PAID PERSONAL AND BUSINESS EXPENSES HE LIKELY WOULD HAVE INCURRED EVEN WITHOUT RUNNING

Donald Trump used campaign funds to pay salaries for his pre-existing staff, including his personal bodyguard, and rent to his luxury condo buildings in Manhattan. “Meanwhile, Trump’s various companies have contributed some $105,000 worth of services, including salaries for Trump’s pre-existing staff, including his feisty bodyguard, and, less explicably but more expensively, rent paid to his to luxury condo buildings in the heart of Manhattan: Trump Plaza and Trump Central Park South.”

Donald Trump used campaign funds to pay for pre-existing Trump Organization staff and some of his private plane flights. “Some of the costs for which Mr. Trump’s companies are now charging his campaign would probably be incurred even if he were not running for president, such as salaries for borrowed Trump Organization personnel and some of his private plane flights. Excluding short hops around the New York City area, Mr. Trump’s private aircraft logged 66 flights in July, August and September 2015, according to the most recent available federal flight records. During the same period in 2014, the aircraft made 51 flights.”

TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN APPEARED TO HAVE BOOSTED HIS NET WORTH

Donald Trump reported that his revenue has increased by about $190 million dollars over 17 months. “While Trump’s controversial comments have cost his businesses money — for example, the PGA Tour recently announced it would move its World Golf Championship from a Trump course to one in Mexico City — Trump reported in documents filed in May with federal regulators that his revenue had increased by roughly $190 million over the previous 17 months.”

Donald Trump’s lawyers claimed that his widely-reported comments on the campaign trail had boosted business at his hotels. “Donald Trump’s wild comments since storming the race for the White House have boosted business for his hotels and the restaurants located in them, his lawyers contend in a new court filing in his fight with Washington celebrity chef Jose Andres. Trump is suing Andres for $10 million after Andres and Chef Geoffrey Zakarian announced last summer they were canceling plans for restaurants in Trump’s redevelopment of the Old Post Office Pavilion building, just blocks from the White House, because of Trump’s comments that Mexico was sending criminals and ‘rapists’ to the United States.”

Fortune HEADLINE: “Here’s Why Trump’s Presidential Run Has Been a Bonanza for his Bank Account” [Fortune, 5/19/16]

• Fortune: “Trump’s notoriety appears to be boosting his business, and making him even wealthier….Trump’s net worth has indeed grown over the 10 months since the last filing.” “The conclusion: Rather than damaging his brand, Trump’s notoriety appears to be boosting his business, and making him even wealthier. By our best calculations, Trump’s net worth has indeed grown over the 10 months since the last filing.”