Political campaigns don’t tend to be moneymaking ventures for billionaires. Just ask Mike Bloomberg, who shelled out $1.1 billion on his unsuccessful presidential bid this year. Or Tom Steyer, who spent $342 million on his. Or Ross Perot, who blew about $75 millionon two failed campaigns in the 1990s. Or even Donald Trump, who contributed $66 million to his 2016 run.
Once Trump arrived in Washington, however, he upended tradition. On the day of his inauguration, Trump filed paperwork for his reelection, allowing himself to continue raising money from supporters while he served. As other people filled his campaign coffers, Trump sat back and watched, never donating to the reelection effort. Instead, he did the opposite, taking money out of his campaign by charging for things like rent, food, lodging and legal expenses. In doing so, the president managed to shift $2.7 million from his supporters to his businesses between his first day in office in 2017 and Election Day in 2020, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.
The $2.7 million represents a tiny sliver of the $785 millionthat the Trump campaign took in from January 2017 to November 2020. It remains a mystery why Trump, who is worth an estimated $2.5 billion, didn’t just cover the costs by making a donation. Continue reading.