Politico tallied up the Federal Election Commission data and reports that the Donald Trump campaign paid his own companies $12.8 million.
That’s millions to Trump Tower and Trump’s private plane, plus hundreds of thousands more for office suites, hotels, employees, security, and so on. Some of the run-down from Politico:
Trump’s Palm Beach club Mar-A-Lago, which he designated as his “Winter White House,” was paid $435,000 by the campaign for facility rental, catering and lodging, while his golf courses were paid $398,000 for the same services.
Eric Trump’s Charlottesville, Virginia, vineyard was paid $32,000 for facilities rental and catering, while a linked company — Trump Virginia Acquisitions — was paid $2,300 for lodging. (Eric Trump, his wife Lara Trump and his brother Donald Trump, Jr., also were reimbursed $56,000 by the campaign for travel and meal expenses).
Payments for meals and catering went to Trump Restaurants, LLC ($78,000), Trump Grill ($608) and Trump Café ($95), while Trump Restaurants, LLC also was paid $141,000 for rent and utilities.
Even a company called Trump Ice got in on the action, charging the campaign $3,400 for beverages for meetings, and office supplies.
Funneling campaign donations into Trump businesses will continue. The president has declared himself a candidate for re-election in 2020 and is maintaining his campaign office during his presidency. Campaign cash can continue to flow to Trump Tower and Mar-A-Lago.
We’ve mentioned before that the plutocrat billionaire Trump was also funneling taxpayer money to himself during the campaign and will continue to do so during the presidency — via unusual arrangements billing the Secret Service for renting out space in Trump Tower and buying seats on Trump’s plane.
Drain the swamp! Just let it flow right into Trump’s pockets.