Trump nearly quintupled the rent for his Trump Tower campaign HQ when he started taking donors' money
Donald Trump almost quintupled the rent of his campaign headquarters in Trump Tower as soon as he was no longer self-funding his campaign, The Huffington Post reports. Federal Election Commission filings indicate that in March, the Trump campaign paid a rent of $35,458, but by July, when Trump was raising money from donors, he had jacked the rent up to $169,758.
Trump actually had fewer staff working for him from March to July, dropping from 197 paid employees to 172. "If I was a donor, I'd want answers. If they don't have any more staff, and they're paying five times more? That's the kind of stuff I'd read and try to make an [attack] ad out of it," a Trump-supporting Republican National Committee member told The Huffington Post under the condition of anonymity.
Trump has also made payments to his golf courses and restaurants totaling $260,000 since a mid-May deal to fundraise with the RNC; his large payments to his own institutions were reportedly less common when he was footing the bill:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Nobody cares when you're spending your own money, but when you’re spending the donor's $27, that could cause problems," the RNC member said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US Steel
Speed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battle
Speed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rally
Speed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?
Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraud
Speed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published