Trump is funneling campaign money into cash-strapped businesses. Experts say it looks bad.

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: USA Today

Published 5:22 a.m. ET April 18, 2024 | Updated 8:14 a.m. ET April 18, 2024


Donald Trump’s main 2024 White House campaign fundraising operation sharply increased spending at the former president's properties in recent months, funneling money into his businesses at a time when he is facing serious legal jeopardy and desperately needs cash.

Trump’s joint fundraising committee wrote three checks in February and one in March to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, totaling $411,287 and another in March to Trump National Doral Miami for $62,337, according to a report filed to the Federal Election Commission this week.

Federal law and FEC regulations allow donor funds to be spent at a candidate’s business so long as the campaign pays fair market value, experts say. Trump has been doing it for years, shifting millions in campaign cash into his sprawling business empire to pay for expenses such as using his personal aircraft for political events, rent at Trump Tower and events at his properties, which has included hotels and private clubs.

While the practice is legal, some campaign finance experts believe it raises ethical concerns when a candidate is generating personal revenue off running for office.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/04/18/trump-campaign-funnels-money-to-his-businesses/73344744007/

[Think. Again.]

1. THIS looks bad???

Have these campaign finance experts been under a rock for the last 9 years???

[PatSeg]

13. He's been doing this sort of thing

from the beginning, not to mention the taxpayer dollars he also funneled into his businesses while being president. It is his nature and he can't help it. Everything is a financial opportunity for him.

[Think. Again.]

16. Yup, and yet these "expertsx in the OP...

are pretending this one incident "looks bad".

[PatSeg]

21. That really sums up the past 8 years

So few in the media can remember anything past a week ago. Almost anything Trump did "looks bad" if you're paying attention.

[progressoid]

34. Well, gosh, it raises ethical questions!

Good God, ethical questions might be the understatement of the decade concerning Trump.

[Think. Again.]

35. Yeah, there's no question about the state of trump's ethics.

[PortTack]

2. The law may say it's legal....we all know he's bending those laws since they don't apply to him!

[brooklynite]

12. Because it is legal...

Campaigns spend money on fundraising events. Nothing in the law says it can't be an a location owned by the candidate.

[bif]

3. Well, his supporters seem okay with it.

So let the grifting continue!

[Think. Again.]

36. I agree, and I hope he bankrupts the rnc while he's at it.

[RockRaven]

4. No consequences during the first eight years of doing so, why stop now?

[CanonRay]

5. Ethics? That word is not in Trump's vocabulary

He breaks the law hourly, why worry about ethics.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. TFG needs the money to cover his failing businesses and to pay lawyers

[prodigitalson]

7. This might damage his reputation

[SergeStorms]

15. Best joke of the day.

Good one. 👍

[JoseBalow]

19. This made me Laugh Out Loud!

[33taw]

8. No complaints here. Just keep funneling money away from down ballot candidates.

[Walleye]

9. A man in desperate need of cash should not be in a sensitive spot in the federal government, particularly president,

[FakeNoose]

10. He needs to keep his own businesses separate from campaign expenses

It's already a huge mess. It snowballs every time he writes checks to his businesses from the campaign accounts. Who is keeping track of this? Probably no one, and it won't end when the campaign is over.

His businesses are failing, just as badly as his campaign will by next November.

When non-billionaires do this kind of stuff, the IRS is on them immediately.

[Zeitghost]

38. Why would the IRS get involved?

It's completely legal and doesn't really have anything to do with taxes.

This kind of shady campaign spending has always gone on. Candidates hire their spouse or kids as consultants, or lease their own property to the campaign for office space. Trump has, as he always does, taken the grift to a new level. But it's still completely legal.

[keithbvadu2]

11. It depends on who is looking at it. From Dotard's view, it looks great!

[SergeStorms]

14. They're just noticing this NOW?

Some people are dense, I guess.

TRUMP'S THE CONSUMMATE CONMAN!

He's been doing this since 2015, and it was 100X worse when he was in office.

Now they're going bat-shit crazy over $500,000?

[SpankMe]

17. Unequal treatment

If a Democratic candidate so much as buys a pack of gum from their brother's 7-11with campaign funds, Repubs would be holding congressional inquiries and demanding FEC and DOJ action.

But they're willing to apply very generous and flexible interpretations to Trump's expenditures and characterize them as perfectly legal.

The corrupt culture in Republican circles is off the scale.

[calimary]

26. They'd be building a gallows for any Democrat they suspected of doing this

or anything remotely like this.

[Scalded Nun]

18. I LOVE this...

"While the practice is legal, some campaign finance experts believe it raises ethical concerns when a candidate is generating personal revenue off running for office."

Ethical concerns? Since when has that asshole ever considered or worried about ethical concerns?

It would be news if he wasn't doing it!

[JoseBalow]

20. Ethics are for suckers

[Marcuse]

22. Paradox

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Your editorial cartoon

is my response to the issue.

Congress needs to change/update the LAW. Otherwise, here we are.

[NoMoreRepugs]

23. Conmen exploit loopholes - that's who they are.

[Harker]

24. Look for the RNC to hold numerous multi-day official events at or near Trumpsky properties. n/t

[magicarpet]

28. Lara trDUMP will make sure any RNC,...

Political gatherings or meetings are steered to trDUMP properties so the family can exclusively realize and enjoy any profits for public event expenditures. Fatten the wallets of the trDUMP branded properties each and every chance you get.

[Harker]

29. That's a good bet.

She's there to steer money into the family MAGA hat, no doubt.

[dchill]

27. Life is just a bowl of grifty.

[live love laugh]

30. He wakes up thinking 🤔 what crimes can I commit today?

[Redleg]

31. My question is "why is this legal?"

I am not a lawyer but I am able to engage in critical and ethical thinking. It seems to me that using funds raised for a campaign should not be used for one's own private business. Second, I am not at all surprised that Trump is doing this and will continue to do this.

[BumRushDaShow]

32. "My question is 'why is this legal?'"

The post upthread with the political cartoon answers your question - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3227344



Congress needs to make it "illegal" through legislation.

(and people wonder why some laws are thousands of pages long)

[Zeitghost]

39. Because on a small scale at the grassroots level, it makes sense.

And it's very difficult to draw a lines in the sand.

If I'm a sandwich shop owner looking to run for city council, why would I not cater my own event? Or lease my spare bedroom and extra vehicle to the campaign to use at a fair price? Or hire my spouse who quit their day job to manage the handful of volunteers I have? After all, I need an office and commercial spaces are expensive. I need a vehicle, but leasing a new one for 3-6 months is financially impractical. And why should I purchase a meat and cheese tray from a competitor?

As the offices being sought and the campaign money involved goes up, it starts to look and feel more shady, even when it's the exact same sort of behavior, just at a grander scale. So now instead of paying my spouse $25/Hr to supervise a few volunteers, I'm paying them $250K to "consult" on my State Senate campaign. And instead of spending a few hundred bucks on deli trays, I'm spending thousands on gourmet food for $500/plate fundraiser dinners.

And of course Trump has taken it to the next level. But at the end of the day, leasing a Boeing 757 isn't much different legally than leasing a 10 year old Subaru Forester.

[republianmushroom]

33. If this is true, it sure and hell will not be investigated by the treasure dept,. IRS or the DOJ.

[Wednesdays]

37. As Obama said to Romney, "Proceed, Governor."

Every dollar thrown at TSF's failing businesses is a dollar not spent on his campaign. And every one of those dollars are dollars not spent on other Repugs' campaigns.