Initiation fees at Trumps clubs score him millions in profits
Source: McClatchy
McClatchy Washington Bureau MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
06 JUL 2017 AT 22:46 ET
July 6, 2017
Anita Kumar
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
PALM BEACH, Fla. Even as he serves as president, Donald Trump earns a tidy sum of money tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars every time a new member joins one of his tony clubs.
He's benefited greatly from these so-called initiation fees for years and even back when the fees took the form of refundable deposits he broke with the norm for such clubs to take the money for himself, according to documents and interviews.
In 2004, Trump had access to nearly $100 million from refundable fees from members at just four clubs, including Mar-a-Lago, a resort in Palm Beach that Trump has dubbed the Winter White House, according to a personal financial statement written by his accountant that year and obtained by McClatchy.
This story, based on nearly 20 interviews and hundreds of pages of documents, some from lawsuits involving Trump and his businesses, shows that Trump is still earning money from one-time club fees; he put in place unusual policies that allowed him to keep the high one-time fees charged to new members, which originally were intended to be refundable; and put language in his contracts that allowed him to spend the money on anything he wanted.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/initiation-fees-at-trumps-clubs-score-him-millions-in-profits/
tblue37
(65,489 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)It would be so great for this to turn into some kind of financial fiasco for the Trump Organization or whichever of his over 500 entities runs this.
We have to make 'being president' a financial disaster to rid ourselves of this blight!
BigmanPigman
(51,630 posts)Ethics chair Shaun couldn't do it so what is the point of having such a clause in the first place? Where is the DOJ?
RainCaster
(10,920 posts)Fucking whore.
orleans
(34,074 posts)Ethics official who sparred with Trump is leaving government
http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/06/news/walter-shaub-office-of-government-ethics-resignation/index.html
SergeStorms
(19,204 posts)with that skanky golf glove he's wearing? You just don't use a golf glove when it's that worn and dirty. Maybe he has a gripping problem with his tiny little hands, and is putting pine tar on his grips? I'd be ashamed to wear such a hackneyed piece of garbage to the driving range, let alone a "world class" course like The Donald's. He always dresses like a hobo on the course anyway. I've seen a quite a few pictures of him playing the game, and he's always dressed in dirty whites. Fat people shouldn't wear white anyway. I don't (I've got an extra 25 lbs. on my 5' 10" frame I could get rid of) and I would never white, even if it was clean and bright. Once again, Trump's taste is in his ass. A fat, sweaty man in dirty whites IS NOT an attractive look. I'm sure his KKK robe is spotless! And with his stupid "thumb up" signal we can see what a slob he is with his equipment as well.
Bottom line, once again we're given a look into the white trash world of Donald Trump. All the money in the world can't buy you class and sophistication. And this slob derides OTHER PEOPLE about THEIR appearance?
burrowowl
(17,648 posts)and overuse of pesticides. May trump snd golf sink!
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)nt