00:00Today on Forbes, Trump shifts nearly $5 million of campaign money into his private business.
00:08Donald Trump, who is worth an estimated $6.4 billion, has not donated a penny to his 2024
00:15presidential campaign, opting to raise funds from supporters around the country instead.
00:21Meanwhile, his businesses have continued to charge his political operation for food, transportation
00:26and facilities.
00:28As a result, Trump has moved $4.6 million of campaign money into his business empire.
00:35This, all according to a review of Federal Election Commission records.
00:40The bulk of that cash, some $4.2 million, has flowed to one of Trump's aviation companies,
00:47Tag Air.
00:49The Secret Service, which has to travel with Trump, has paid more than $800,000 for airfare
00:54to his campaign, perhaps contributing some of that $4.2 million.
01:00The former president owns a 1991 Boeing 757, which required a $4 million engine overhaul
01:06around the time he left the White House.
01:08After speaking with six aviation experts, Forbes estimates the plane is probably worth
01:13about $12 million.
01:16Trump's businesses have long charged his campaign for various services, though never under quite
01:21the same circumstances.
01:23During the 2016 race, Trump invested $66 million of his own money into his campaign, far more
01:29than the roughly $13 million his campaign paid his business, leaving him with a net
01:34loss.
01:35In 2020, the former president gave nothing to his campaign while continuing to collect
01:41money, thereby moving about $3 million of donor funds into his business.
01:46This year, during his 2024 election campaign, he's set to collect far more, as he flies
01:51around the country on his own plane rather than Air Force One, allowing him to transform
01:56his private jet into something of a charter service.
02:00When asked about the transactions, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign deflected, criticizing
02:05Joe Biden's travel to Delaware and Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings, while
02:10pointing out that Trump donated his $400,000-a-year White House salary and left office poorer than
02:15he entered it.
02:17The former president, a frequent Florida traveler who handed over management of a multi-billion
02:22dollar international business to his sons, has charged his campaign far more than he
02:26donated in salary.
02:29On top of the airfare, Trump's 2024 campaign has spent $332,000 at Mar-a-Lago, the private
02:36club that doubles as Trump's personal residence.
02:39The former president announced his current White House bid from the club in November
02:432022, and the campaign forked over $68,000 the next month.
02:48In June 2023, special counsel Jack Smith announced an indictment of the former president for
02:54allegedly retaining secret documents at the club and obstructing attempts to retrieve
02:59them.
03:00But the party at the club kept rolling.
03:02The campaign spent $86,000 at Mar-a-Lago in November 2023, then continued to toss in $10,000
03:08here, $15,000 there, over the ensuing several months.
03:14Trump sprinkled some around at his other properties, too.
03:17His campaign spent $20,000 at Trump National Doral, a golf resort the former president
03:22owns in Miami.
03:24Another $36,000 went to the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, which the former president owns
03:29alongside billionaire Phil Ruffin.
03:32Other Trump-connected groups have also paid Trump's businesses.
03:36His 2020 campaign, which morphed into a political action committee, rented space in Trump Tower,
03:42spending about $500,000 from the November 2020 election through February 2022.
03:48After his 2020 run, Trump also created something called a leadership pack, which politicians
03:53often use to support their allies.
03:56Trump's group, named Save America, instead spent most of its money covering legal expenses.
04:03Save America also spent $335,000 at Trump Hotels.
04:08There are also joint fundraising committees, which allow the former president to team up
04:12with others to gather contributions.
04:14Trump's joint fundraising committees have paid his businesses about $1 million since
04:19the former president lost his spot in the White House.
04:23Add it all up, the $4.6 million from the 2024 campaign and millions more from Trump's other
04:29groups, and his businesses have collected about $7 million in total since the 2020 election.
04:36Not a bad consolation prize.
04:39For full coverage, check out Dan Alexander's piece on Forbes.com.
04:44This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:46Thanks for tuning in.
Comments