Trump at war with press over donations to veterans' groups

[Geee]

The Hill:

Donald Trump lashed out at the press over scrutiny of the money he raised to donate to veterans groups, in one instance pointing to a reporter and calling him a “sleaze.”

 

At a press conference in Trump Tower on Tuesday, Trump announced that he’d give $6 million — including $1 million of his money — to a variety of veterans groups.

 

But Trump became irritated by reporters who questioned why it had taken so long to make the donation, noting that Trump held the fundraiser for veterans all the way back in January.

“It seems to me you’re resistant to the kind of scrutiny that you get with running for president of the United States?” said CNN anchor Jim Acosta.

 

Trump responded: “I like scrutiny, but you know what when I raise money – excuse me excuse me, I’ve watched you on television and you’re real beauty – when I raise money for the veterans and it’s a massive amount of money, find out how much Hillary Clinton has given to the veterans, it’s nothing.

 

“I don’t want the credit for it but I don’t want to be lambasted,” Trump added.

 

Later, Trump pointed to an ABC reporter and called him a “sleaze.”

[Geee]

Trump says he's given $5.6M to veterans groups

 

Donald Trump on Tuesday said he finally gave "close to 6 million dollars" to veterans groups, four months after making the pledge in late January.

 

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee also said the press "should be ashamed of themselves" for asking questions about the money he donated.

 

"I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job," Trump said, before releasing a list of the groups that received the money.

 

"As of this moment, it's $5.6 million," Trump added in a press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday.

 

"All of the money has been spent."

 

Trump said he didn't release the names of the veterans organizations sooner because he wanted to respect their privacy. He insisted that the money for a number of these groups was delivered some time ago.

 

The businessman said veterans groups had been thanking him and that one gentleman was so overcome with joy that he was crying.

 

Trump spent several minutes reading out the list of veterans organizations that he said received the money from him and his friends. He said that, among others, "22 Kill" received $220,000; "Green Beret Foundation" got $350,000; and American Hero Adventures took $100,000.

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281718-trump-details-funds-given-to-veterans-groups

[Valin]

Trump and the Long-Delayed $1 Million Donation to Veterans
By Jim Geraghty
June 1, 2016

 

From the midweek edition of the Morning Jolt:

On January 20, 2016, Donald Trump and his campaign issued the following statement.

 

(New York, NY) January 28th, 2016 – Today Donald J. Trump hosted an event to raise money for Veterans organizations in Des Moines, Iowa. The GOP frontrunner spoke to a record crowd at Drake University and was joined by special guests, including Senator Rick Santorum and Governor Mike Huckabee, as well as Veterans, throughout the night. Mr. Trump personally contributed $1 million dollars to the cause and raised an additional $5 million before the one-hour event concluded, totaling more than $6 million dollars.


Mr. Trump stated, “Our Veterans have been treated like third-class citizens and it is my great honor to support them with this $1 million dollar contribution – they are truly incredible people. We are going to strengthen our military, take care of our Vets and Make America Great Again.”

From those words, you might conclude that Trump had, you know, donated a million dollars to veterans’ charities that night. You would be wrong.

We now know Trump didn’t write a check that night. Or the next night. Or the night after that. No money went from him, personally, to veterans groups for the next five months, until after reporters started asking Trump about the donation in interviews.

 

(Snip)

 

And yes, the second half of the Jolt reviews the many questions about Hillary Clinton’s charitable donations and just how non-profit and ethical the Clinton Foundation is.