Trump properties raked in more money from Pentagon than previously known
Mike Brest
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Recently released documents revealed that former President Donald Trump’s businesses charged nearly $1 million to the Department of Defense during the first three years of his administration.
American Oversight, a nonpartisan nonprofit watchdog, asked agencies in 2019 for information regarding federal spending at Trump properties, while the Pentagon produced the relevant information last month.
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The new details show the department spent a total of $974,634.02 at Trump properties from July 25, 2017, through Nov. 20, 2019, which is roughly three times greater than the previously reported total of roughly $300,000.
“As far as we can tell, this is the first time these specific expenses have been reported — and they are long overdue,” Heather Sawyer, American Oversight’s executive director, told Forbes. “While we expect to receive receipts of government spending at Trump properties for years to come, we urge the government to pick up the pace so that the American people have this information.”
Sawyer noted that Trump’s “refusal to divest from his businesses created an environment rife with potential for abuse” because his properties “became vessels for self-enrichment.”
At least 15 Trump properties received money from the department, with the former president’s Miami resort getting the biggest influx of $274,000, followed by his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club that raked in $266,000.
“No matter the players involved, we always urge maximum transparency from government when it spends our tax dollars,” OpenTheBooks.com CEO Adam Andrzejewski told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “Americans deserve to get a full accounting of this travel and event spending — not just from the Pentagon but across agencies — so that they can determine whether it was spent effectively and appropriately.”
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“If it amounted to waste or self-dealing, it should be called out and it should signal that more stringent rules may be necessary to deter conflicts of interest,” he added. “That’s especially true when the parties are part of an expansive landscape of multilateral business interests that cross public and private sectors.”
A Department of Defense spokesperson directed the Washington Examiner to the FOIA office for comment, though the action officer for the FOIA request that led to the release of these documents did not respond.