Former President Trump has put almost $1 million in donor contributions into his own pockets, investing it in Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower, and other properties, since he left office in 2021, according to a report published Thursday.
The former president got the cash donations through his various political committees, including the Make America Great Again Super PAC and Save America Leadership PAC, starting from the day Trump left office in January 2021 until the end of last year, according to an analysis of the new FEC filings done by the HuffPost.
Trump Tower, Trump’s longtime NYC home and the headquarters for his 2016 presidential campaign, has received most of the money from the donations made by Trump Committees, with a total of $412,958 received, according to the report.
The Trump Tower got the money in monthly installments of $37,542 over 11 months, described in the filings as “rent.”
Even though the payments were coined under “rent” in the FEC filings, it is noteworthy that the Make America Great Again Committee did not conduct any political work there.
The Trump International Hotel, a second property in New York City located on Central Park West, received $336,218 from the donor funds.
Trump’s famous Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, received $137,272, including a $68,988 payment that it received after it became Trump’s locale for his 2024 presidential bid announcement on November 15, 2022.
After his 2020 election loss, Trump went on an aggressive donor campaign to raise money for Save America, claiming that he would use the money raised to pursue legal action for his loss to President Joe Biden and help Republican senators in Georgia win during their runoffs.
It was revealed that he did not spend a dime of Save America’s funds either.
After criticisms from other Republicans, Trump transferred Save America’s money to a new Trump super PAC run by his former aide. It spent about $15 million boosting Republican candidates that Trump favored, but most lost.
The new super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., still has $54 million from the Save America campaign, and it is expected to use the money to boost the former president’s 2024 campaign, which Save America was not allowed to do.
Although he gave a total of $760,000 to Republican House and Senate candidates, it is not comparable to the $27.3 million he has reportedly paid his legal team, which is mostly handling his personal legal problems.
Despite his numerous legal battles and misappropriation of donor money, Trump is still the leading candidate for the Republican nomination in many election polls.