As soon as Donald Trump finished inking a deal on May 18 with the Republican National Committee to allow him access to the GOP's fundraising coffers, he knew exactly what that meant: it was pay day! S.V. Date writes:
That same day, Trump’s campaign, now set to receive tens of millions of dollars of other people’s money, finally sent five- and six-figure checks to Trump’s properties for events that had happened months earlier. Meaning that the GOP establishment had not only been defeated, it was now actually paying for that March 15 victory party attended primarily by members of Trump’s Palm Beach country club.
Score! Heh, suckers.
In all, just shy of $1 million went out the door on May 18. More than $600,000 of that went to Trump-owned businesses, with $423,000 of it going to Mar-a-Lago alone, which hosted that March 15 party, an earlier one on March 1 and a news conference on March 11.
It’s unclear from Federal Election Commission filings what other expenses, if any, that payment covered ― it is listed as “facility rental/catering,” and the resort does not appear to have hosted any other campaign events. Trump’s campaign would not provide an explanation. Had Trump instead chosen to hold those events at the nearby West Palm Beach Marriott, he likely would have spent no more than $45,000 for all three, based on its estimates for catering the number of people who attended his parties.
Wow, $423,000 vs. $45,000—that's a nice mark up, no? It also fits a pattern of Trump choosing to do events at Trump properties instead of less costly venues. Additionally, the piece found that if Trump had used his smaller Cessna jet to get around instead of his 757, it would have slashed the $5.6 million he spent on travel costs in half.
All this may very well be legal but it’s a safe bet that very few of the donors who wrote a check to the RNC hoped it would eventually be passed through to Trump-owned properties hosting ostentatious Trump events. What does it all mean for Donald Trump's personal pocketbook?
In the final months of the primary campaign, Trump’s own money accounted for 82 percent of the campaign’s cash. Since securing the nomination, that figure is down to 12 percent.
Cha-ching!