The Trump Foundation Is Operating Under an Unusual Definition of “Charity”

Also, Trump used foundation money to buy a six-foot-tall self-portrait.

If you haven’t yet read the Washington Post’s investigation into the Trump Foundation, here it is:

How Donald Trump retooled his charity to spend other people’s money

The Donald J. Trump Foundation is not like other charities. An investigation of the foundation — including examinations of 17 years of tax filings and interviews with more than 200 individuals or groups listed as donors or beneficiaries — found that it collects and spends money in a very unusual manner.

For one thing, nearly all of its money comes from people other than Trump. In tax records, the last gift from Trump was in 2008. Since then, all of the donations have been other people’s money — an arrangement that experts say is almost unheard of for a family foundation.

Trump then takes that money and generally does with it as he pleases. In many cases, he passes it on to other charities, which often are under the impression that it is Trump’s own money.

I have to admit that, from an outsider’s perspective, “taking other people’s donations and giving the money to charity” doesn’t seem that bad. I’ve both contributed to and helped organize fundraisers, and that’s the basic underlying principle, right?

Then journalist David A. Fahrenthold looks at the details:

In five cases, the Trump Foundation told the IRS that it had given a gift to a charity whose leaders told The Post that they had never received it.

Hmm.

Money from the Trump Foundation has also been used for political purposes, which is against the law.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound good.

Trump spent $20,000 of money earmarked for charitable purposes to buy a six-foot-tall painting of himself.

Wait WHAT?

There are a lot of sad parts in Fahrenthold’s investigation, including a conversation with a representative of a charity designed to help homeless veterans that never received any money from the Trump Foundation (despite the Foundation claiming it had made a donation), but the funniest part is Twitter’s current quest to find that six-foot-tall portrait, which even Fahrenthold admits he hasn’t seen.

4/This is a giant portrait of @realdonaldtrump. But *not* the one he bought w/ $20,000 that was meant for charity.

 — @Fahrenthold

5/This is another giant portrait of @realdonaldtrump. But *not* the one he bought w/$20K that was meant for charity.

 — @Fahrenthold

Also, here is Fahrenthold and Danielle Rindler’s look into the individual charities the Trump Foundation claims to have funded, and whether those charities actually received any money.

Searching for evidence of Trump's personal giving

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.