USA Today reports that Trump’s companies sold $35 million worth of condos in 2017. Most of the sales were made through shell companies with the names of actual buyers obscured.
The trend toward Trump's real estate buyers obscuring their identities began around the time he won the Republican nomination, midway through 2016, according to USA TODAY's analysis of every domestic real estate sale by one of his companies.
In the two years before the nomination, 4% of Trump buyers utilized the tactic. In the year after, the rate skyrocketed to about 70%. USA TODAY's tracking of sales shows the trend held firm through Trump's first year in office.
The millions of dollars are immediately accessible to the President through a trust fund run by his sons. The President is the sole beneficiary of the trust.
Unidentified persons or countries wishing to influence Trump could be buying the condos secretly and putting pay-for-play money in the President’s pocket. Money could also be laundered through the condo sales. Or both at the same time.