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Trump's Iowa 'veterans' event will raise money for his own foundation as his campaign is coy about which organizations will benefit
Published: 15:00 EST, 28 January 2016 | Updated: 15:37 EST, 28 January 2016
UK DAILY MAIL
- Donald J. Trump Foundation created a Web page in the wee hours of Thursday morning to raise money that it says will go to 'Veterans needs'
- Trump campaign won't say which vets' groups will get the money
- The foundation has given very little to veterans charities in the past
- Trump is hosting his fundraiser on Thursday night to compete directly with a Fox News Channel debate less than a few miles away
- His foundation would be required to publicly disclose its 2016 giving until long after the presidential election
Published: 15:00 EST, 28 January 2016 | Updated: 15:37 EST, 28 January 2016
UK DAILY MAIL
Donald Trump's highly publicized veterans fundraiser on Thursday night will benefit his own charitable foundation, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Ultimately, Trump's press secretary Hope Hicks said Thursday afternoon, 'the money will go to a number of Veterans charities and organizations.'
The campaign has been coy about which organizations will eventually see a cash infusion.
Trump tweeted on Thursday: 'It is my great honor to support our Veterans with you! You can join me now. Thank you! #Trump4Vets http://www.DonaldTrumpForVets.com.'
The link goes to a website run by the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which promises that '100% of your donations will go directly to Veterans needs.'
He told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday night that 'we're going to raise a lot of money for the veterans. A lot of money is going to be raised. A lot of people are going to be there, and I can do some good.'
The DonaldTrumpforVets.com Web domain was registered early Thursday morning, Internet records show, by Brad Parscale, the San Antonio-based website developer who handles Trump's campaign website.
Hicks did not respond to a question about whether using the foundation as a pass-through vehicle was a last-minute decision.
But even The Donald didn't seem to be in the loop about the website's final name, mistakenly tweeting at first that 'trumpforveterans.com' would be the repository for donations.
Trump has made the treatment of American military veterans a centerpiece of his campaign, complaining at public rallies that the Obama administration's Department of Veterans Affairs needs a dramatic overhaul.
He appeared in September aboard the USS Iowa in the Los Angeles harbor, saying against a backdrop of seafaring cannons that 'we have illegal immigrants that are treated better than our veterans.'
Trump announced this week that he would skip Thursday's Fox News Channel/Google debate, the last one of its kind before Monday's Iowa caucuses, because the network trolled him with a sarcastic statement suggesting he was afraid to face questions from moderator Megyn Kelly.
Kelly and Trump have a longstanding feud that dates back to the first Fox News debate in August, when she led off the event with a tough question about the billionaire's past barbs aimed at women he didn't like.
Instead, he is hosting his own rally less than 2 miles away. Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, the winners of the last two Iowa GOP caucus contests, will join him after they participate in the 'undercard' debate reserved for low-polling Republicans.
The Trump foundation itself has a spotty record to date of donating to veterans charities, one that will likely see a reinvention if The Donald's supporters donate heavily this week.
Its future donations won't be publicly known until its 2016 taxes are filed, which won't happen until at least the middle of 2017 – long after the election that will either make him President of the United States or send him back to the real estate world.
The foundation could alternatively choose to publish a list of donations long before then, and Trump's rivals may insist on it.
Forbes magazine reported in October that '[t]he Donald J. Trump Foundation has donated $5.5 million to 298 charities between 2009 and 2013 (the most recent year available), according to the non-profit's 990 tax forms from those years.'
'Of that, only $57,000 has been donated to seven organizations that directly benefit military veterans or their families. ... Wounded Warriors was not among the organizations Trump's foundation gave to in that time period.'
But Hicks told The Weekly Standard on Wednesday that the Republican front-runner has dipped into his own pockets to support vets.
'Mr. Trump has made significant financial and in kind contributions to many Veterans organizations, personally and not through the Donald J. Trump foundation,' she said.
One veterans group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said Tuesday that it will decline any money from Trump's Des Moines event.
'Donald Trump is not a leader in veterans' philanthropy, unless he's donated a lot of money that nobody knows about,' the group's president Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran, told The New York Times last year.
Rieckhoff tweeted Tuesday: 'If offered, @IAVA will decline donations from Trump's event. We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.'
Trump's foundation has attracted unwelcome attention in the past after The Smoking Gun reported that the billionaire had never donated to charities engaged in relief work following the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
That report was based on an analysis of the Trump Foundation's tax returns.
Trump's camp fired back immediately. telling DailyMail.com that he had personally 'donated close to half a million dollars to organizations as a result of the 9/11 tragedy including the American Red Cross and the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Fund, in addition to a total of $102 million dollars donated to hundreds of charitable foundations over a relatively short period of time, many of which helped people affected by 9/11.'
Ultimately, Trump's press secretary Hope Hicks said Thursday afternoon, 'the money will go to a number of Veterans charities and organizations.'
The campaign has been coy about which organizations will eventually see a cash infusion.
Trump tweeted on Thursday: 'It is my great honor to support our Veterans with you! You can join me now. Thank you! #Trump4Vets http://www.DonaldTrumpForVets.com.'
The link goes to a website run by the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which promises that '100% of your donations will go directly to Veterans needs.'
He told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday night that 'we're going to raise a lot of money for the veterans. A lot of money is going to be raised. A lot of people are going to be there, and I can do some good.'
The DonaldTrumpforVets.com Web domain was registered early Thursday morning, Internet records show, by Brad Parscale, the San Antonio-based website developer who handles Trump's campaign website.
Hicks did not respond to a question about whether using the foundation as a pass-through vehicle was a last-minute decision.
But even The Donald didn't seem to be in the loop about the website's final name, mistakenly tweeting at first that 'trumpforveterans.com' would be the repository for donations.
Trump has made the treatment of American military veterans a centerpiece of his campaign, complaining at public rallies that the Obama administration's Department of Veterans Affairs needs a dramatic overhaul.
He appeared in September aboard the USS Iowa in the Los Angeles harbor, saying against a backdrop of seafaring cannons that 'we have illegal immigrants that are treated better than our veterans.'
Trump announced this week that he would skip Thursday's Fox News Channel/Google debate, the last one of its kind before Monday's Iowa caucuses, because the network trolled him with a sarcastic statement suggesting he was afraid to face questions from moderator Megyn Kelly.
Kelly and Trump have a longstanding feud that dates back to the first Fox News debate in August, when she led off the event with a tough question about the billionaire's past barbs aimed at women he didn't like.
Instead, he is hosting his own rally less than 2 miles away. Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, the winners of the last two Iowa GOP caucus contests, will join him after they participate in the 'undercard' debate reserved for low-polling Republicans.
The Trump foundation itself has a spotty record to date of donating to veterans charities, one that will likely see a reinvention if The Donald's supporters donate heavily this week.
Its future donations won't be publicly known until its 2016 taxes are filed, which won't happen until at least the middle of 2017 – long after the election that will either make him President of the United States or send him back to the real estate world.
The foundation could alternatively choose to publish a list of donations long before then, and Trump's rivals may insist on it.
Forbes magazine reported in October that '[t]he Donald J. Trump Foundation has donated $5.5 million to 298 charities between 2009 and 2013 (the most recent year available), according to the non-profit's 990 tax forms from those years.'
'Of that, only $57,000 has been donated to seven organizations that directly benefit military veterans or their families. ... Wounded Warriors was not among the organizations Trump's foundation gave to in that time period.'
But Hicks told The Weekly Standard on Wednesday that the Republican front-runner has dipped into his own pockets to support vets.
'Mr. Trump has made significant financial and in kind contributions to many Veterans organizations, personally and not through the Donald J. Trump foundation,' she said.
One veterans group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said Tuesday that it will decline any money from Trump's Des Moines event.
'Donald Trump is not a leader in veterans' philanthropy, unless he's donated a lot of money that nobody knows about,' the group's president Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran, told The New York Times last year.
Rieckhoff tweeted Tuesday: 'If offered, @IAVA will decline donations from Trump's event. We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.'
Trump's foundation has attracted unwelcome attention in the past after The Smoking Gun reported that the billionaire had never donated to charities engaged in relief work following the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
That report was based on an analysis of the Trump Foundation's tax returns.
Trump's camp fired back immediately. telling DailyMail.com that he had personally 'donated close to half a million dollars to organizations as a result of the 9/11 tragedy including the American Red Cross and the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Fund, in addition to a total of $102 million dollars donated to hundreds of charitable foundations over a relatively short period of time, many of which helped people affected by 9/11.'
