Melania Trump Once Bid $20,000 on a Portrait of Donald Trump Because She Had No Choice

Once, Melania Trump found herself in a peculiar position at a charity event held in Mar-a-Lago, her husband's lavish Florida estate. The occasion featured a speed painter named Michael Israel, renowned for crafting massive portraits in under seven minutes. Naturally, his subject that evening was none other than Donald Trump himself. 

The massive Donald portrait was up for buying, with the former president's wife Melania starting the bidding at $10,000. As per Israel, when no one else increased their bid, the auctioneer urged Melania to increase her bid: "The auctioneer was just pretty bold, so he said, ‘You know what just happened: When you started bidding, nobody’s going to bid against you, and I think it’s only fair that you double the bid." 

But neither Melania nor Donald paid the amount in the end; according to The Washington Post, the Trump Foundation did. Melania apparently had no choice but to take part in the auction based on the bidding report. If not, the absence of bids would have humiliated Donald, and various reports have outlined that the former president doesn't respond well to being embarrassed publicly, as per Quartz.

WaPo reporter David A. Fahrenthold later disclosed that the Donald J. Trump Foundation had not only paid $20,000 for a six-foot-tall painting of the president but another $12,000 for a signed football helmet by Tim Tebow. These purchases may have violated federal tax law if they were not made for charitable purposes. Later on, Fahrenthold said he believes the painting is still at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where Melania gave Israel assistant Jody Young instructions to send it. Israel, too, told WaPo back in 2016, "I understand it went to one of his golf courses." 

Ultimately, the painting cost $10,000, with the charity and Israel receiving $10,000 each from the Trump Foundation (tax records show that 2007 was the last year Donald contributed any personal funds to the foundation). Auctioneer David Schall told The Post that an Israel portrait of Warren Buffett sold for more than $100,000, so Donald's painting 'really wasn't a lot,' that is a tidy sum for art and charitable giving. 

The portrait was troubling also because Donald paid for it through his foundation. The real estate mogul had the option of buying the portrait with his own money. When the cost of the portrait is subtracted from the $35,000 that Donald donated to his charity in 2007, it becomes apparent that he only gave $15,000 that year. The Trump charity distributed the remaining cash obtained by his charity from other charitable organizations. This kind of charity was quite similar to Donald's business strategy, which involved borrowing money from others to fund his projects. It was comparable to how he funded a large portion of his presidential campaign.

This article originally appeared 6 months ago.