John -
Even after three years and countless outrageous examples, many people may still not realize that President Trump is making money off of the presidency. It’s part of our job to remind everyone that he is. Every. Single. Day. Here are just a few recent lowlights:
Trump has continued to funnel taxpayer money into his own pockets by visiting his properties—more than 450 times, according to our count. Last weekend, he golfed at his Virginia golf course, which likely resulted in Secret Service payments to his business. In fact, while Trump makes a big show of donating his presidential salary every year, taxpayers have paid more than a year’s worth of that salary for Trump’s golf cart rentals alone.
In January, the Republican National Committee held its winter meeting at Trump’s Doral resort in Florida, and a new analysis by CREW found that the RNC and 13 state Republican parties spent over half a million dollars at Doral as a result. That’s just one of the most recent examples of Trump’s political allies holding fundraisers and events at his properties, currying favor and putting money in his pocket all at once.
In February, Trump visited four western states, but flew back to Las Vegas to stay at his own hotel each night, likely costing taxpayers an additional million dollars in travel costs alone. He claimed that the Secret Service requested the arrangement—but when we requested documents corroborating that claim, the Secret Service could find no evidence to back up what the president said. We’ve since continued our investigation into the trip by requesting records of costs related to the trip paid to Trump’s businesses.
President Trump is also forging ahead with plans to hold another Fourth of July rally on the National Mall, despite the coronavirus pandemic. It’s unfortunately not surprising that rates at Trump’s DC hotel are spiking over the weekend of the Fourth, raising questions about whether Trump is pushing for the rally in order to sell rooms at a higher rate, despite the ongoing health risks.
And just this week, CREW uncovered that on May 5, the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners voted to grant a portion of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf resort a rent deferral due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is yet another example of the conflicts inherent in Trump’s continued ownership of his businesses: while many businesses have struggled as a result of the economic fallout from the pandemic, no other business has an owner with the uniquely powerful bully pulpit of the presidency.
Even with our tireless efforts to track Trump’s corruption, we still can’t know the full extent of Trump’s profiteering. Records requests and data released by the Secret Service have helped put together an incomplete picture, and we know that taxpayer spending tied to Trump’s visits to his properties has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. We know that his political allies and special interests have spent millions at his businesses over the last three years. We may never know the full extent of his manipulation of the presidency for profit, but at CREW, we’re going to do our best to find out—and hold him accountable.
Thank you,
Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW
PS. Please forward this email to your friends and family to remind them that President Trump is making money off of the office of the presidency. It’s alarming, but it’s true. And everyone needs to know that Trump’s corruption is not just a vague idea, it’s literally taxpayer money going to Trump’s businesses.
