Trump is directing campaign funds toward financially struggling companies. Analysts think it seems awful

Trump is directing campaign funds toward financially struggling companies. Analysts think it seems awful

The primary fundraising effort for Donald Trump's 2024 White House campaign has significantly boosted spending at the former president's properties in recent months, putting money into his companies at a critical juncture when he is in grave legal danger and in need of money.

According to a report this week filed with the Federal Election Commission, Trump's joint fundraising committee made checks totaling $411,287 to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in the months of February and March, another $62,337 to Trump National Doral Miami in the same month.

Donor cash may be used at a candidate's place of business under federal law and FEC standards, experts say, provided the campaign pays fair market value. For years, Trump has been channeling millions of campaign funds into his vast conglomerate to cover costs like renting out Trump Tower, utilizing his private jet for political events, and hosting parties at his hotels and private clubs.

Even while it's legal, some experts on campaign finance feel it raises ethical questions when a candidate makes money off of their candidacies.

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Shanna Ports, senior legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for government accountability, said that "when voters see something like such an event occurring it contributes to their distrust of the political system as well as their elected officials' motives."

With several civil and criminal proceedings, Trump will have to pay enormous legal fees.

The money that Trump's campaign is spending at his companies may come in handy for the outgoing president, who is severely short on cash.

Trump has lost two legal battles and now faces two big financial judgments.

In two separate cases involving fraud and fabricating company documents, he posted bonds totaling $175 million and $91.6 million, respectively, in response to lawsuits filed by writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation. Regarding the financial soundness of the agreement Trump made to make the bigger bond payment, the attorney general of New York is contesting it.

In contrast to his substantial court-ordered financial judgments, the payments Trump's campaign has paid to his companies are little, although they have been increasing recently.

From the beginning of 2023, the Trump campaign and associated political organizations have paid at least $4.9 million to companies controlled by the billionaire, according per a USA TODAY study. TAG Air, Inc. received $4.1 million, the majority of the funds, for air travel.

TAG Air, Inc., valued between $5 million and $25 million, is one of Trump's holdings included on his most recent financial declaration, which is mandatory for presidential candidates. It is in charge of his personal jet, known as Trump Force One.

The minimum amount of money that Trump's campaign committees and a super PAC under his patronage have spent at his properties since the start of the year is $809,000.

Expenditure on campaigns at Doral in Miami and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach

Since the beginning of 2023, $663,000 of all campaign expenditures at Trump's properties have taken place in Mar-a-Lago, with the majority of those expenditures taking place in February. It's unclear what activities the funds were used for.

In response to specific inquiries about the campaign expenditures at his properties, a Trump spokesperson delivered a statement disparaging President Joe Biden instead of answering.

Trump properties have also been the recipient of significant campaign finance expenditures from other Republican contenders.

According to documents, the campaign of Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, spent $109,000 on "event catering" at Mar-a-Lago in April, December, and January of 2023. Trump gave Moreno his support in December. After winning the March primary, Moreno will take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, a three-term incumbent, in November.

In November and December, Jim Marchant, the Nevada U.S. Senate candidate, spent almost $67,000 at Mar-a-Lago on "event venue rental and catering" for his campaign. In his failed 2022 campaign to become the secretary of state of Nevada, Marchant received Trump's support. Now, Marchant is attempting to topple Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen, a first-term member.

In January, a political action committee (PAC) named Giuliani Defense spent $2,400 on meals and fundraising costs at Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. There have been $540,000 in legal expenses paid by the PAC, according to FEC records. In an effort to assist Rudy Giuliani with his legal expenses, which are partly related to the criminal accusations the former mayor of New York faces in Fulton County, Georgia, for attempting to assist Trump in tampering with the 2020 election, Trump threw a fundraiser for the former mayor at Bedminster in September.

On March 5, Trump threw a party at Mar-a-Lago for a sizable contingent of his fans to witness the results of the Super Tuesday primary elections from 16 states. In October, he also hosted a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago that gathered hundreds of supporters, including Roseanne Barr, the actress, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and U.S. Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green and Byron Donalds.

Former Ambassador Carlos Trujillo held another event at Trump National Doral in March, with proceeds going to the super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc.

The bulk of the expenditures at Trump properties were covered by the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising organization, which raises money for both Trump's campaign and his Save America leadership PAC. Additional costs were covered by Save America and MAGA Inc. super PAC, Trump's primary campaign organization.

Trump's business dealings have raised concerns since the 2016 election.

Throughout his three campaigns and four years in the White House, questions about how Trump's companies have profited from his political career have followed him.

Demanded to steer clear of any conflicts of interest between his presidency and his business connections, Trump said after his election victory in 2016 that he would not be making any "new deals." The family firm, which was run by a trust with weak conditions to avoid ethical conflicts, was also placed under the management of the future president's two adult sons.

Suits alleging that Trump violated the Constitution's emoluments provisions while in office were unsuccessful. Those attempting to sway Trump's government, according to his detractors, poured money into his ventures, which included a hotel close to the White House in Washington, D.C., which was later sold and renamed as a Waldorf Astoria.

The America Democracy Legal Fund said in a 2016 lawsuit that "Mr. Trump is using funds from his presidential campaign to further his business and personal interests" and filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Although the lawsuit was rejected, several experts on political funding still have reservations.

"People should be running for office because they are interested in supporting the public, not because they want to enrich themselves," Ports said. Therefore, such issues are raised by the fact that campaigns are permitted to pay the candidate's company. Even if it's legal, it casts the electoral system in a bad light."

While Trump's use of campaign funding at his companies may not be against the law, professor of legislation at Columbia Law School Richard Briffault called it "a little bit dicey."

No one's ever seen something comparable.

According to Briffault, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat who campaigned for president, may be the only political contender with a comparably vast corporation, but even so, they are not quite equivalent. "Nobody has ever seen anything like it with Trump," he said.

Charging Trump's campaign and PACs the same price they would charge any other paying client for the services is the main requirement for his companies. However, whether the campaign and PACs might get a better bargain elsewhere raises ethical concerns as well.

What is the cost that they impose? And how much are they lodging those who may be staying somewhere else that would be less expensive? Briffault enquired. "They're holding these things there on purpose, but you could imagine there could be cheaper venues." 

While the president is dealing with four criminal charges, Trump's leadership PAC has also been spending enormous amounts of money on lawyers. In a case concerning purported payments made to an adult film actor during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence her about an alleged sexual encounter, he is now on trial in New York City.

The leadership PAC Save America has been paying more than $72.5 million in legal fees to many businesses that defend him in both his criminal and civil charges since the days before the 2020 election. The majority of his legal expenses come from that fund, but his linked committees have spent millions more.

It is customary for campaigns to spend money on legal matters, but experts on campaign financing believe that Trump has gone beyond what is lawful.