“Crooked Hillary should be admonished for not having a press conference in 179 days”, he tweeted. He also said that even Bernie Sanders has done well, Clinton’s lead on him is “insurmountable”. Of those, about half said they’d received checks from Trump “just last week”.
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“I have never have received such bad publicity for doing such a good job”, Trump complained. The Associated Press on Tuesday found that of the almost two dozen charities that responded to its survey, almost half received checks dated 24 May, the same day the Post published its story.
Nearly certainly because Mr. Trump had not given the $1 million of his own money he promised until, apparently, Post reporters started asking questions.
Trump also promised to put up $1 million out of his own pocket.
Earlier this month the Washington Post reported it could only account for about $3 million in donations.
On Tuesday, Trump arrived prepared with a list of groups – complete with exact dollar amounts – to which he said he had donated. He predicted the $5.6 million total that he cited will continue to grow, to eventually top the $6 million figure he claimed back at the event where he first solicited donations to veterans, in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 28. In a televised fundraiser that he said would benefit military veterans, he announced he had raised more than $6 million and that he himself was giving $1 million. Fitzgerald said the organization received $65,000 in donations related to the Trump fundraiser: $50,000 from the Stewart J. Rahr Foundation on February 22; $5,000 from the Jerome and Anne C. Fisher Charitable Foundation on March 11 and $10,000 from Moda, LLC, a private company based in Greenwich, Conn., on March 22.
Trump demanded that journalists credit him for his act of charity and took issue with their attacks: “I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I have ever met, I have to tell you. Thank you all very much”, the former reality TV star said.
While Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with the media, questions about the donations to veterans touched a raw nerve with him as he tries to build a conservative base ahead of the November 8 general election. The Associated Press found that many of those checks were dated May 24.
“The money’s all been sent”, Trump said at a press conference at Trump Tower Tuesday morning. It was contentious and uncomfortable, which is to say it was the best Trump press conference yet.
But the campaign refused for months to disclose which charities had received the money, leading to questions about whether the money raised was less than he had said.
Still, it shouldn’t have taken until May 24 for the campaign to vet the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation – a group that gave Trump an award a year ago and with which he has such a close relationship that he evidently has the chairman’s phone number memorized. Representatives from the foundation, accompanied by several service dogs, accepted the check at the Adler Theater in Davenport, Iowa, where Trump was being interviewed on stage by Jerry Falwell Jr.
An attorney for Trump told the judge that the “playbook” contained trade secrets and strategies that others could steal.
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Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied Tuesday that timing had anything to do with questions from the media.
