Trump loves to spend money on frivolous things. Earlier in the month, Trump was exposed for taking $12, 000 of his charity’s money to purchase a Tim Tebow football helmet in 2012. It was obviously a moronic, unethical purchase (not to mention embarrassing), but it’s not any worse than what he did in 2008…
Eight years ago, Trump spent a whopping $120, 000 at a gala hosted by Gucci benefiting Madonna’s charity, for a tour of a France’s Chateau Latour vineyard. Now, why would Trump drop 120k on a tour? It was probably because comedian Chris Rock, who was the auctioneer of the event, said that the tour would include a lunch “Salma Hayek and her breasts.” Considering how much time Trump has spent objectifying and sexualizing women throughout his life and his presidential campaign, the opportunity to have lunch with an attractive actress “and her breasts” was probably something Trump couldn’t turn down. After all, Trump LOVES talking about breasts – even the breasts of his daughter when she was just a year old!
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While Trump’s treatment of women is disrespectful and awful enough, this situation gets worse. It was discovered that once again, Trump used other people’s money to afford such a luxury – the tour came right from his foundation, and was clearly not from any of the donations he’s made. That year, Trump had only donated a measly $30, 000 to his foundation. A large sum of the money likely came from the Trump Foundation’s largest donor in 2008, the Willard T.C. Johnson Foundation, which had made a donation of a quarter-million dollars. As reported by Buzzfeed, “tax records show the donation was made by his foundation, not himself”:
The trip reportedly included a tour of the famed Chataeu Latour vineyard and a meal with actor Salma Hayek and her husband, the French billionaire François-Henri Pinault, whose family owns the vineyard.
Trump himself didn’t go on the trip, an aide told BuzzFeed News, but said that she did not know what became of the auction prize. Asked if it had been given to someone else, she reiterated that she didn’t know.
Tax experts contacted by BuzzFeed News said that even if Trump gave the trip to a family member or friend, Trump would have had to report the trip on his foundation’s IRS tax forms. Those forms, however do not report any such transactions. IRS rules require nonprofits to report any “self-dealing” — using their money to furnish their executives with money or other benefits.
According to the Trump Foundation’s 2008 tax form, there is a $107, 000 “charitable contribution” to the Gucci Foundation, who had hosted the gala. The Gucci Foundation’s tax form cites a $145, 000 donation from the Trump Foundation. There are no “self-dealing” disclosures on the Trump Foundation’s tax forms.
Trump attends tons of charity events every year, and often takes full credit for his grandiose charitable acts – but he really only gives small sums of money. In fact, a recent Washington Post report could only find $10, 000 worth of charitable giving with Trump’s own money over the last SEVEN years.
This story was first published at Winning Democrats, by Patricia Colli
