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WAPO: Trump Directed More Than $8 Million to His Properties

The Washington Post has a new report analyzing expense money Donald Trump directed be paid to his properties since he got his desk in the oval office. Saying it is the tip of the iceberg, it has tracked at least $2.5 million in taxpayer funds, and $5.5 million from his campaign and fundraising committee to his properties.

Since his first month in office, Trump has used his power to direct millions from U.S. taxpayers — and from his political supporters — into his own businesses. The Washington Post has sought to compile examples of this spending through open records requests and a lawsuit.

In all, he has received at least $8.1 million from these two sources since he took office, those documents and publicly available records show.

He’s visited his hotels and clubs more than 280 times now, making them a familiar backdrop for his presidency. And in doing so, he has turned those properties into magnets for GOP events, including glitzy fundraisers for his own reelection campaign, where big donors go to see and be seen.

Some examples [More....]

Since 2017, Trump’s company has charged taxpayers for hotel rooms, ballrooms, cottages, rental houses, golf carts, votive candles, floating candles, candelabras, furniture moving, resort fees, decorative palm trees, strip steak, chocolate cake, breakfast buffets, $88 bottles of wine and $1,000 worth of liquor for White House aides. And water.

Water when no meals were served at a cost of $3 bottle.

The payments are not illegal. But, remember that Trump pledged in 2016:

...he would “completely isolate” himself from his business once in office, and put his voters’ interests above his own.

The Post reports these payments from the Government and his campaign are more than the revenues Trump Organization received for his hotels in Vancouver and Hawaii.

Trump's spokesman denies he misused taxpayer funds. But the Post shows a copy of a check as an example:

A check from the State Department to Mar-a-Lago showing payments for catering and flower ar