How Donald Trump Moved Millions From His Campaign Donors To His Private Business

[Nevilledog]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/07/21/how-donald-trump-moved-millions-from-his-campaign-donors-to-his-private-business/#709cf94b735c

Donald Trump has not given a dime to his reelection campaign, opting instead to fund the entire effort with his donors’ money. His business, meanwhile, has continued to charge the campaign for things like food, lodging and rent. The result is that $2.2 million of contributions from other people has turned into $2.2 million of revenue for Trump.

And that’s just counting the money flowing directly through the president’s campaign. His reelection apparatus also includes two joint fundraising committees, which work with the Republican Party to raise money for Trump. Since he took office, those entities—named Trump Victory and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee—have funneled another $2.3 million into the president’s private business, according to a review of Federal Election Commission records. Then there’s the Republican National Committee, which has spent an additional $2.4 million at Trump properties. Add it all up, and the president, working in concert with the party he leads, has helped push $6.9 million into his businesses since taking office.

It’s a meaningful sum, even for a large business. Consider the payments to Trump National Doral, the president’s golf resort in Miami. In 2017, Trump’s first year leading the country, revenues at Doral dropped from $88 million to $75 million, dragging profits (measured as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) down from $12.4 million to just $4.3 million. The next year, the RNC, which had spent just $3,000 at the property in 2017, upped its expenditures to $603,000. That helped give a slight boost to the business, which recorded 2018 profits of $9.7 million, according to a spokesperson for the Trump Organization.

Two years later, the RNC is now a well-established customer at the resort, having spent $255,000 there in 2019 and another $510,000 in January. The latter payments provided a nice jolt to the place shortly before the coronavirus crisis shut it down. In total, Doral has done $1.4 million worth of business with the RNC since Trump took office.

*snip*

[genxlib]

1. I don't think this tells the whole story

Every official event will be surrounded by a constellation of unofficial activity.

Say, patrons at a dinner deciding to stay overnight.

Or attendees playing golf.

Or lobbyists renting entertainment suites for backroom dealings.

I would guess the economic impact is easily 3x the direct business checks written from those entities.

And that doesn't even mention the free publicity for your crappy properties.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. When he is defeated the GOP will withdraw from him like an abused dog

when she hears a loud voice or is touched unexpectedly. Then his businesses will die, as they would have already without his openly brazen fraud.