Trump is 'generating personal revenue off running for office' and raising 'ethical concerns'

Law professor Caroline Fredrickson, in an op-ed published by the New York Times on April 11, laid out her #1 fear about the possibility of a second Donald Trump presidency — which is that if he defeats President Joe Biden in November wins a second term, he will turn the United States' federal government into a "modern-day Tammany Hall." Trump, Fredrickson warned, will merge government and business to a troubling degree if he returns to the White House in 2025.

In USA Today, journalists Zac Anderson and Erin Mansfield report that Trump has been "funneling" campaign money "into his businesses" — and is raising "ethical concerns" in the process.

"Trump's joint fundraising committee wrote three checks in February and one in March to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, totaling $411,287 and another in March to Trump National Doral Miami for $62,337, according to a report filed to the Federal Election Commission this week," Anderson and Mansfield explain in a report published on April 18. "Federal law and FEC regulations allow donor funds to be spent at a candidate's business so long as the campaign pays fair market value, experts say…. While the practice is legal, some campaign finance experts believe it raises ethical concerns when a candidate is generating personal revenue off running for office."

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Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault told USA Today that although funneling campaign money into Trump's businesses may not be illegal, it is "a little bit dicey."

Similarly, Shanna Ports, senior legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, told USA Today, "When voters see something like this happening, it contributes to their distrust of the political system and their elected officials' motives…. People should be running for office because they want to serve the public, not because they want to enrich themselves. So the fact that campaigns are allowed to pay the candidate’s business raises those concerns."

Ports added, "While legal, it creates kind of a negative impression of the election system."

Anderson and Mansfield note that the "money Trump's campaign is spending at his businesses could help the former president as he faces a big cash crunch."

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"The payments Trump’s campaign has made to his businesses are small compared to his large court-ordered financial judgements, but have been growing in recent months," the USA Today reporters note. "The Trump campaign and affiliated political committees paid businesses owned by Trump at least $4.9 million since the start of 2023, according to an analysis by USA Today. Most of that money — $4.1 million — went to TAG Air, Inc. for air travel."

The journalists continue, "Trump lists TAG Air, Inc. among his assets on his latest financial disclosure required of presidential candidates, with a value of between $5 million and $25 million. It operates his private aircraft, nicknamed Trump Force One. Trump's various campaign committees and a super PAC controlled by his supporters also spent at least $809,000 at his properties since the beginning of last year."

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Read USA Today's full report at this link.