Trump technically owes Obama a $5 million donation now


Donald Trump was in large part responsible for spreading the conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was born abroad (spoiler alert: Obama was born in Hawaii). After years of promoting the theory, Trump blurted Friday that he believes Obama was in fact born in the United States — and if Trump is true to his word, that admission will cost him $5 million:
In 2012, Trump offered to donate $5 million if Obama would produce records related to his citizenship. Long after others had stopped pressing the case, Trump continued."The president should come clean," Trump said on Irish television in 2014, a clip unearthed by BuzzFeed late Thursday, refusing to accept that Obama's Hawaii birth certificate was genuine proof. "A lot of people feel it wasn't a proper certificate." [The Los Angeles Times]
The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, who has dogged the Trump campaign over alleged donations of millions to charity that apparently were never actually given, decided to find out if Trump would keep his promise:
There has been no response yet.
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.
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.
-
8 splashy items to elevate any pool party
The Week Recommends Fire up the snow cone machine, and turn on that outdoor movie projector
-
What to know as student loan collections resume
the explainer The restart comes as part of the Trump administration's reversal of Biden-era policies
-
'We already have the tools to do better'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellites
Speed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
-
TikTok's fate uncertain as weekend deadline looms
Speed Read The popular app is set to be banned in the U.S. starting Sunday
-
Appeals court kills FCC net neutrality rule
Speed Read A U.S. appeals court blocked Biden's effort to restore net-neutrality rules
-
Judge rejects Elon Musk's $56B pay package again
Speed Read Judge Kathaleen McCormick upheld her rejection of the Tesla CEO's unprecedented compensation deal
-
DOJ seeks breakup of Google, Chrome
Speed Read The Justice Department aims to force Google to sell off Chrome and make other changes to rectify its illegal search monopoly