Politics –
TrumpSoPoor Hashtag
Mocks Improprieties
Donald Trump claims to be a wealthy tycoon, however his campaign appears to be flat broke — and that’s not even the bad news. Fundraising reports show the presumptive GOP nominee has used at least $6 million in campaign cash to line the pockets of his own companies and family members. Now, the Internet is firing back by mocking “The Donald” with the hashtag “TrumpSoPoor.”
Politics
Things just aren’t looking good for Trump these days. The Hillary Clinton campaign has upwards of $20 million readily available cash to spend, whereas Donald “TrumpSoPoor” has a meager $1.3 million. In the world of presidential politics, that is positively pathetic!
After firing his longtime campaign manager, Trump had one full day of at least looking like he’s taking his run for the White House seriously. He finally passed the proverbial hat and begged wealthy Republican donors to help his fledgling finances. Interestingly, some among the GOP elite actually considered writing him a check… until they found out where his campaign funds have been going.
As the owner of several buildings, products and services, “TrumpSoPoor” has been pulling the wool over the public’s eyes by funneling campaign cash back into his own businesses. Here’s how his scam scheme money juggling has been working:
Trump strategically placed his campaign headquarters inside New York’s elaborate Trump Tower — which happens to be owned by him. As the landlord, Donald Trump has been able to charge the Donald Trump campaign however much he wanted. This means that when the rent came due, “TrumpSoPoor” simply took campaign funds and paid the bill with campaign contributions…which went directly to the landlord…which went… you guessed it…directly into Donald Trump’s pocket.
In January, the campaign paid out $26,000 to rent out a facility at Trump National Doral, his golf course in Miami. The campaign spent another $11,000 on Trump’s hotel in Chicago. In May, the Trump campaign paid $423,000 to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida for Trump “appearances.” The campaign also paid roughly $520,000 in rent and utilities to Trump Tower Commercial LLC and to Trump Corporation. About $5,000 campaign dollars went to Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC, which boasts several varieties of Virginia wines bearing the Trump moniker. These questionable expenditures don’t even begin to take into account how much the Trump campaign has paid to Donald Trump for the use of his private jet.
Is “TrumpSoPoor” lining his own pockets with donor contributed campaign cash? Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton seems to think so.
“What is Trump spending his meager campaign resources on? Why, himself, of course,” Mrs. Clinton tweeted on Tuesday.
Understandably, already skittish donors now have a fresh batch of reasons to withhold their money.
Politics
The Trump campaign began the month of June with only $1.3 million in the bank (less than a standard congressional race and even less than past Republican presidential candidates), which places him in an unbelievable deficit. For Republicans to learn that Trump is sending donor contributions directly to his businesses instead of paying for ads and strategies to defeat Hillary Clinton is mind-boggling.
Of course his campaign down-played any cause for concern.
“To date, the campaign’s fundraising has been incredible, and we continue to see a tremendous outpouring of support for Mr. Trump and money to the Republican Party,” the campaign said in a statement Tuesday.
New York donor Anthony Scaramucci also chimed in with his 2 cents, saying a major part of Trump’s appeal is that he’s a “non-politician” who does things differently.
Apparently that extends to Trump’s desire to mix business with politics.
Finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show the campaign has funneled a total of about $6 million back into Trump corporate products and services (so far). That’s nearly 10% of his total expenditures.
FEC reports show the campaign made about $400,000 in payments to Trump himself for donating $400,000 worth of campaign office space. Trump’s companies also charged his campaign for goods and services, including bottled water and meals (Trump steaks?). What’s worse is that the $46 million worth of loans Trump made to his campaign can all be repaid with donor money, which has created the perception of impropriety.
“This is explicitly why we divided ourselves from any and all of Steve Forbes’ corporate entities,” said Bill Dal Col, who ran Forbes’ unsuccessful 1996 and 2000 White House campaigns. “You just never want to have to worry about any blurred lines with personal, corporate, in-kind and contributor money.”
Naturally, the “TrumpSoPoor” revelations have some donors spooked.
“Why would donors give money when the first dollars go to help a billionaire buy products from his own company?” said Charlie Spies, a Republican elections attorney who frequently works with major GOP contributors.
Good question.
Hey Trump…in the words of TV’s Ricky Ricardo: “You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do!”
Keep em coming DJ. The more your readers learn what's really up with this charlatan (based of factual info), the better,
Btw- Mark Cuban (billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavs) has been saying for quite some time that Trump can't "self-fund" his own campaign because Trump is NOT nearly as rich as he claims to be.
In fact, Mark reiterated his belief again on Twitter yesterday:
“If @realDonaldTrump were fractionally as rich as he says he is, he would write a $200m check to propel his campaign."
"He doesn't have the cash.”
H/T: Politico
Politico Reader:
Trump has lied about his wealth like he has lied about everything else. A man with a net worth of $10,000,000,000 does not run a cash strapped campaign. [….]
Politico Reader:
It's not just that he's short of cash – who's going to give him money so that he can use it to pay himself for "rental" of his own jet and his own country club? This guy is a grifter! [….]
The truth is, if Trump didn't have the support of nearly 14 million Americans, I would dismiss him as trash.
Pure trash.
I'm glad you're enjoying the articles, Truthiz1. I actually had different articles planned for every day this week, however Donald Trump has made it necessary to change the story every single day due to some new development from him. I guess he's the gift that just keeps on giving. ^_^
– DJ
You're onto something Truth. Trump is a big liar. He doesn't have all the money he claims to have. That's why he won't release the tax returns because his big lie would get exposed. If he had big money like that his campaign account wouldn't be down to a buck million. Scam artist.
RedState Reader:
This was known during the primaries and should have gotten a lot more focus, but at the time the media was more than happy to leave Trump unexamined until he could eliminate the serious candidates. What's now become apparent is that the Trump campaign is as much of a shell and a sham as his financial "empire" and his "university." He has no actual liquidity, he has no successful business record and he has, based on the fundraising figures, put together the worst campaign and campaign staff in the history of Presidential politics. It's not a campaign; it's a con, and Republican voters are the pigeons. [….]
RedState Reader:
It is as though Trump sees Bankruptcy as a concept to be embraced and applied to all aspects of life.
The more I think about it, I don't think I'm kidding. He seems to view emptiness as a form of leverage, and this is evident in more than one area of his life. Trophy wives, pyramid schemes, attaching his name to whatever useless product he figures might either make a dollar or be successfully written off as a loss. . .
The man embodies the darkest aspects of the greatest system ever created, in terms of moving people forward. He is as amoral as a Public figure could be without imploding, and sees the simplest, dumbest, utterly bereft Pragmatism as the closest thing he knows to Wisdom. There are those who Do, and there are those who live off those who Do. . .
And then there is whatever middle ground it is he occupies, somehow seeming to Do while accomplishing little to nothing, and finding his footing just between what just barely works, and the illegal. […]
RedState Reader:
Nailed it – all he does is find a way to take advantage of others for his own personal gain. You are spot on when you say: "The man embodies the darkest aspects of the greatest system ever created". Current U.S. History books describe some of our greatest industrialists as "robber barons" a term they do not deserve as they were great believers in philanthropy and putting their money to good use. Trump is a real robber baron, making money on the backs of the uninformed and undereducated and he doesn't give to anyone or anything that will not benefit him,
He has no interest in doing something to better this country or the lives of its citizens. [….]
TPM Reader:
Trump's just such a political hot mess, you can't really tell if this is some sort of performance art, a parody, some weird (crappy) movie we're watching, or if it's actually for real?
I guess we might be missing something and this could all turn into a nightmare come November (i.e. Trump wins). But until the time where we can finally tell things whether we were right and we're winning (probably big!), or we were wrong and things are going to hell in a hand basket, I've decided I'm going to enjoy the heck out of this thing!!!
The schadenfreude towards the disgusting, xenophobic, bigoted, misogynistic, intolerant, racist, non-empathetic, and pathetic mess the Republican Party has become and what Donald Trump is amazing! […].
NPR:
“My sense is that it is like an epic disaster that is going to get worse," said Rob Jesmer, former executive director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee
Source: "A Trump Nomination – And His Supporters – Is Bad News For Incumbent Republicans"
NPR weekend edition Sunday morning, 4-3-16
So wait a minute. Trump is skimming money off the top for himself?? This is boarder line criminal. Nobody would be renting Mar a largo or that golf resort since it's private property. But he's renting it out to himself and making money off it that he wouldn't get from anybody else? This could blow up into something big. Maybe this is why Trump is running for president. He's fleecing his donors and his campaign then putting the money in his pocket. No wonder there's only a million dollars left.
And check this BD…..
He can't very well beg his 14 million supporters to send him money. After-all, he has repeatedly told the world that he has "SO much money" that he can just "self-fund" if he has to. Puleeze.<rolling my eyes>
The man is a pathological lying narcissist and CON man. An absolute fraud and utter Failure at life.
To him, running *game* and making money from bankruptcies are measures of success.
And he IS the Republican nominee for President.
ROTFL @ failure at life. You got me crying over here. But yeah, he is more than just the Repub nominee. He's the leader of the whole party now.
Thurs. June 23, 2016
"Amid Campaign Worries, Trump Heads To Scotland To Check On His Golf Courses"
NEW YORK (AP) — Facing questions about meager fundraising, slipping poll numbers and campaign instability, Donald Trump is tending to business — in Scotland.
In his first international trip since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump plans to check on a pair of his championship golf resorts. Some Republicans worry that the billionaire's attention is divided between his businesses and his campaign "I'm not sure what the purpose of the trip is," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who added that he hopes Trump "would get back here quickly."
Trump's son, Eric, who oversaw the two-year, more than $300 million renovation at the Trump Turnberry golf course, dismissed those concerns, saying "the eyes of the world" will be on his father during a two-day stay in Scotland that begins Friday.
"The Turnberry course is one of the crown jewels of the golf world and is now one of the crown jewels of our family's properties," Eric Trump said this week in an interview with The Associated Press. "He's over there to inspect the course and to support his son who put a tremendous amount of time and energy into the project."
Trump's first stop Friday morning will be in Turnberry, which is nestled along Scotland's western rocky coast and has been in use for more than a century. The site, which Trump bought in 2014, has hosted four British Open championships, was used as an airplane landing strip during both world wars and features a lighthouse that stands on the ruins of a 13th century castle.
He will visit another course he owns, in Aberdeen, on Saturday before returning to the United States after just 36 hours.
"It's a brief but important visit and then he will be back on the campaign trail," Eric Trump said. [….]
H/T: TPM
TPM reader:
Yeah, and if he speaks to a single reporter while there, this is all a "campaign stop," billable to the campaign.
Anyone who donates money to the Trump campaign is what's known in the business as "an easy mark." […]
BREAKING: Thursday Morning, June 30, 2016
"Donald Trump Has Not Forgiven Campaign Loans And Probably Won’t"
One of the major stumbling blocks in Donald Trump's ability to raise money from deep-pocket donors, other than his lethal combination of sloth and arrogance, has been his carrying as a "loan" to his campaign some $50 million. By carrying it as a loan rather than a contribution, Trump would be legally able to take the money other people give him in order to pay himself back. Many rich people are understandably reluctant to put their money, money which they intended to support Trump's campaign, into the gaping, insatiable maw that Donald Trump calls a pocket.
Only a week ago, the Trump campaign made a huge announcement that he had converted that debt into a contribution. My colleague, Susan Wright, posted on the announcement and she speculated, as did most of the RedState contributors, that Trump was, in fact, lying. If he claimed to convert the debt to a contribution… which is literally as hard as checking off a single box on one FEC report… he could collect contributions leading up to the convention, pocket them before the next report, and then confront the GOP with a broke campaign that they had to fundraise for. In other words, we were speculating that this was the quintessential Trumpian con wrapped in a scam wrapped in a deception.
Guess what?
[ A week later, NBC News has learned the FEC has posted no record of Trump converting his loans to donations. The Trump Campaign has also declined requests to share the legal paperwork required to execute the transaction, though they suggest it has been submitted.
In his most recent FEC filing, which posted June 20, Trump treated all his spending on the campaign as loans.
An FEC staff member tells NBC News there is no new filing changing Trump's loans. The FEC's candidate tracking page, which posts filings, does not show new paperwork from Trump changing his loans. ]
When does the GOP convention kick off? July 18. By the time the FEC report is released, Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee.
This is no different that the way Trump acted in regards to his "contribution" to veterans charities, or charities in general. He claims to give and doesn't follow through with action unless, as in the case of the veterans fundraising scam, he is caught and shamed into doing it. [….] RedState
NBC News: "After Saying He Forgave Loans to Campaign, Trump Won't Release Proof"
Re: "Donald Trump Has Not Forgiven Campaign Loans And Probably Won’t"
RS Reader:
There is no reason to give this candidate a dime. I think the big money PACs and contributors know this. […]
RS Reader:
ROFLOL! This is just Don the Con being the liar that he is and will always be. […]
DemocraticUnderground Reader:
One could almost pity his blank-eyed followers, if not for the fact they do so mainly out of hating their fellow Americans. For that, they will be crushed, and we should thank them. […]
Regular readers of OK WASSUP! know that…w/the exception of Nate Silvers analysis…I tend to pay polls absolutely no mind.
However, in THIS case, I'm tempted to believe there's more than a grain of truth to it:
Fox Poll: "More Than Half of Republicans Don't Want Trump as Nominee"
More than half of likely Republican voters would like someone other than Donald Trump to be their party's presidential nominee. That's according to a new Fox News poll released Wednesday, which asked who those voters would prefer the win the GOP nomination. Just 48 percent said they would prefer Trump to "someone else," while 51 percent said they would prefer someone else." And just 74 percent of the Republicans polled said they would vote for Trump if the election were held right now.
That lack of support from Republican voters might partially explain Trump's two-month dip in Fox's poll against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In the new survey, conducted from Sunday to Tuesday, Clinton had 44 percent support to Trump's 38 percent. He's down 7 points from 45 percent in Fox's May poll, which actually had Trump beating Clinton by 3 points.
While Clinton has remained relatively steady since May at 42 percent, Trump does not appear to have recovered from his decline in an early June Fox poll down to 39 percent support. Clinton, meanwhile, gets the support of 83 percent of Democrats. Trump does edge out Clinton among independent voters, 39 percent to 31 percent. [….]
H/T: The Weekly Standard, June 29, 2016