Is Trump Taking Money From The Vets

At to the lowest degree eleven veterans charities were paid by Donald Trump'south foundation within the past week — donations that were made on the same day or after reporters began questioning him about where millions of dollars he says he fund-raised in January had gone.

During a news briefing Tuesday, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee released a list of 41 groups that he says were given $v.half-dozen million raised as function of a philanthropic event in Iowa. Trump held the telethon-style fundraiser instead of attending a GOP debate back in late January considering FOX News would not replace Megyn Kelly as a moderator.

NBC News confirmed with 27 of the charities that they received a combined $3.82 one thousand thousand from either the Trump Foundation or entities working on Trump's behalf.

Xi said they were paid on or subsequently May 24 — when Trump was interviewed by The Washington Postal service, which for weeks had asked the billionaire businessman to disclose who was benefiting.

The biggest recipient was the Marine Corps-Police Enforcement Foundation, a small New York grouping that received a $1 1000000 personal check from Trump terminal week, said Sue Boulhosa, the group's executive director.

She told NBC News that she first received a $100,000 bank check from the Trump Foundation a couple of months ago in the weeks following the fundraiser. Trump has a longstanding history with the group, which honored him at a gala last twelvemonth, she said.

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Simply Trump previously spoke with the group'due south chairman and "it was alluded" that the Marine Corps foundation, which provides scholarships to the children of fallen Marines, should expect a new influx of cash from the fundraiser, Boulhosa said.

"That's a significant donation. Nosotros have received it in the past from other donors, but it's evidently very significant," she said.

Trump acknowledged the questionable timing of these latest donations during his news conference in which he besides railed against the media giving him "bad publicity."

"The printing should be aback of themselves," he said, challenge information technology was no i's business where his donations to veterans went.

Trump said it took time to disperse the funds because he had to check upwards on each of the charities.

"When you send checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars to people and to companies and to groups that you've never heard of, charitable organizations, yous accept to vet it," he said. "You send people out, you do a lot of work."

Trump'southward campaign director, Corey Lewandowski, had originally told The Washington Mail service that the event had raised nearly $4.5 meg — less than the $half dozen million originally announced past Trump — because some who'd pledged had backed out. Lewandowski also said all the money had been given out.

Trump had claimed during the fundraiser that he'd raised $6 1000000 through a combination of pledges from wealthy friends, the public and $1 meg from himself.

But the entrada refused for months to disclose which charities had received the money, leading to questions nigh whether the money raised was less than he had said.

"It was very unfair that the press treated us and then badly," Trump complained Tuesday.

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He suggested he had hoped to keep the donations private. Just Trump wasn't shy about giving abroad affiche-sized checks at campaign events in the weeks after the fundraiser.

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied Tuesday that timing had annihilation to do with questions from the media.

"Mr. Trump's team worked very hard to consummate this lengthy process prior to Memorial Twenty-four hour period Weekend," she said.