In January, Donald Trump claimed a stunt fundraising event he hosted raised $6 million for veterans. He said he personally contributed $1 million of his self-proclaimed $8.7 billion fortune toward that total.
But a Wall Street Journal report published roughly three months after the fundraiser found the promised beneficiaries had apparently received just a “fraction of the promised money.” In recent days, reporters started pressing the Trump campaign for more details. When specifics weren’t forthcoming, a Washington Post reporter used Twitter to investigate whether any veterans groups had posted about receiving the money Trump purportedly raised. They found nothing.
Trump’s Campaign: Just Kidding About the $6 Million For VeteransPolitics by CREDIT: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Back in January, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump boycotted a…thinkprogress.orgPerhaps realizing he was being caught not delivering on his promise, Trump apparently tried to make up for lost time. The Post reports that on Monday, Trump called the home of James K. Kallstrom, chairman of the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, and informed him he would be giving $1 million to his organization. It remains unclear whether any other veterans organization has received a donation stemming from Trump’s fundraiser since the Journal’s report was published, though the Post reports that the founder of Boston’s annual Wounded Vet Bike Run received a call from the Trump campaign on Tuesday, which suggests more donations could be forthcoming.
Trump’s excuse for the months-long delay? “You have a lot of vetting to do,” he told reporters on Tuesday, according to the Post. But that rationale is drawn into question by the fact the Donald J. Trump Foundation had previously contributed to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.
On Twitter, Trump has tried to spin the story as an example of how he’s not treated fairly by the media.
While under no obligation to do so, I have raised between 5 & 6 million dollars, including 1million dollars from me, for our VETERANS. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2016
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/734938503541325825
Amazingly, with all of the money I have raised for the vets, I have got nothing but bad publicity from the dishonest and disgusting media.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2016
But this is far from the first instance of Trump being outed for exaggerating about his generosity. Last year, Trump repeatedly touted the $102 million he claimed he gave to charity over the previous half-decade, but a Washington Post investigation found that not a single penny of that total came from his own money. In fact, more than half of the 4,844 donations Trump claimed he made actually consisted of gratis rounds of golf. Along similar lines, a 2011 Smoking Gun investigation of the Trump Foundation’s IRS returns found that Trump “may be the least charitable billionaire in the United States.”
Veterans Group Calls Out Trump For Overstating DonationsPolitics by CREDIT: Emily Atkin “Trumpty Dumpty didn’t serve. Trumpty Dumpty broke his word.” A U.S. Marine Corp…thinkprogress.orgTrump claims his net worth is $8.7 billion, but he’s provided no substantiation for that figure. Bloomberg News estimates Trump’s actual net worth is actually under $3 billion, while Crain’s New York reports that Trump recently received a tax break only available to married couples who have an annual income of $500,000 or less.