Report: Donald Trump campaign has paid his businesses $8.2M
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has paid more than $8.2 million to his family’s businesses, according to an analysis done by Politico.
The payments make up about 7 percent of the $119 million the campaign has spent, the report said. The campaign paid Trump’s businesses $1.2 million for rent for his campaign offices, $544,000 for food and facilities for meetings and events, $333,000 for payroll for Trump’s corporate staffers, according to the report.
Most of the amount, $6 million, went to a TAG Air for use of the GOP presidential nominee’s private plane, the report said. Some of the other payments specifically were for event staging and lodging at some of his golf courses, for rent, meals, office supplies and utilities for Trump Restaurant, among other things.
Federal election law bans corporations from donating cash, goods or services to campaigns, Politico noted, but experts told the news outlet that there’s an exception he might be using. It allows owners of certain types of companies to donate from them to campaigns and the donations are considered to have come from the owner, the report said.
The FEC disclosures were published a few days after revelations that Trump used his charitable foundation to settle lawsuits that involved his businesses, spending more than $250,000 from the Trump Foundation over the last decade.
