Donald Trump Skimps On Veterans: Charities Receive Only ‘A Fraction’ Of Funds Raised
More than two months have passed since GOP frontrunner Donald Trump made headlines by choosing to skip a Republican debate in order to hold a fundraiser for veterans. Yet the veterans’ charities for whom Trump ostensibly raised funds for report that they have only seen a mere fraction of the pledged money raised from Trump’s charitable foundation.
According to a survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal, only 19 of the 22 groups originally listed by Trump’s presidential campaign as beneficiaries of the funds have received any funds at all. And of the funds disbursed, only $2.4 million of the estimated $6 million Trump’s event generated have been donated to veterans’ charities.
Trump skipped out on the GOP debate because of an ongoing feud with Fox News over Megyn Kelly. But rather than bowing out, Trump held his own event, with its own counter-programming, just three miles away from the Republican debate. And while the remaining Republicans brawled over foreign policy, Trump put on a show. In fact, Trump himself likened his fundraiser to the Academy Awards.
During the fundraiser, Trump directed donors to a website, which allowed them to donate money to the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The website claimed that 100 percent of all funds donated would go directly to veterans’ needs.
But two months later, and only a percentage of the money donated for veterans’ needs has been given out, with no word on when further funds may be released.
One of the organizations surveyed would not disclose how much it has received from Trump’s charitable foundation, while another said that it needed to submit more paperwork before receiving funds. A third group didn’t respond at all to multiple inquiries. Most of the veterans’ groups reported receiving checks through the mail from the Donald J. Trump Foundation in increments of $50,000 or $100,000 in late February. Those organizations who received checks in March reported smaller donations that averaged between $5,000 and $15,000.
Hope Hicks, a spokesperson from the Trump campaign, defended Trump’s disbursement of only a fraction of the $6 million raised for veterans.
“Mr. Trump has distributed many of the contributions to a number of worthy organizations, and will continue to do so,” said Hicks.
Hicks declined, however, to break down into specifics how much the various groups have received to date, or the total distributed from all monies raised from the January 29 event. Furthermore, an accountant for the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for a comment.
But charities who have received some of the funds collected and promised by Donald Trump have quickly put the money to work.
“It was like a super-blessing,” said Cindy Brodie, the director of Partners for Patriots. Partners for Patriots is a Tennessee group that provides service dogs to disabled veterans. Because of the funds the organization receives, it was able to expand the number of dogs it is training from 10 dogs to 40 dogs.
Donald Trump has had a rather questionable relationship with some veterans’ groups after he openly mocked Senator John McCain for his harrowing experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. During a forum held in Iowa back in July, Trump said McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war, was “not a war hero.”
“I like people that weren’t captured, okay?” Trump said.
Trump did not serve in the Vietnam War despite his background as a cadet in a prominent military school, reportedly due to a medical deferment.
[Photo by the Washington Post/Getty Images]
