Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?

Source: The New Republic · Bias: Left

Summary

Last year, four huge companies pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fund the creation of Donald Trump’s presidential library, a planned monstrosity in Miami that—in a perfect Trumpian twist—may also double as a hotel. The companies—ABC; Paramount; Meta; and X, formerly Twitter—entered into the agreements with Trump to settle legal cases he’d brought against them, which experts had dismissed as dubious.After the companies agreed to these shakedowns—sorry, settlements—the fund created to receive donations was dissolved last September. Since then, Senate Democrats have been asking: What happened to the money?Now there’s been an important new turn in this saga. The four companies have provided fresh information to Senate Democrats in written responses to their questions. For these Democrats, those responses—obtained by The New Republic—raise more questions than they answer. In these formal replies, all four companies confirmed that they did pledge that money to Trump’s library—itself a notable development. More importantly, however, the Democrats say the responses reveal that the money is still largely unaccounted for.“Not one of these companies can say with any clarity where their multi-million-dollar donations to Donald Trump’s library slush fund are, or where they will go,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who’s taken the lead in tracking this money, tells me in a statement.In a new letter to Trump, Warren and several other Democrats raise fresh questions about the replies and the money. They label the situation “deeply troubling,” particularly given Trump 2.0’s “vast tide of corruption and self-enrichment.”Indeed, the library saga combines many of the worst elements of Trump’s imperial presidency all in one project: his use of lawsuits to extort private entities for tribute; his garishly awful decorative and architectural taste; and his Nero-scale megalomania.To wit: Trump recently released a video rendering of the library that displayed a soaring skyscraper with the word “TRUMP” at the top in huge letters, massive screens playing his world-historical speeches, and enough Mar-a-Lago chintz to make you go blind. Trump recently declared that his library-and-hotel will outclass Barack Obama’s presidential library, which Trump derided as a “very unattractive building that’s seriously late and seriously over budget.”Clearly, Trump wants the world to know that he can erect a presidential skyscraper that’s bigger and more awesome than any presidential building that Obama erects.But we digress: Let’s talk about the money! The companies all settled lawsuits with Trump after his 2024 victory: Paramount for $16 million over a claim of fraudulent editing by CBS; Meta for $25 million and X for around $10 million over supposed censorship of Trump; and ABC for $15 million over alleged defamation. Experts criticized the lawsuits as weak and denounced the settlements as akin to extortion payments.Under those settlements, the companies donated virtually all that money to the library project, totaling at least $63 million. But then the fund where most of that money appeared to be directed—the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund—was dissolved by Florida officials amid the failure to file a required annual report. At that point, The Washington Post scooped that Democrats sent letters to the companies demanding information on what they knew about the whereabouts of their donations. Trump had established another, separate organization—the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc.—as a tax-exempt nonprofit also created to raise money for the library. The Democrats also demanded to know if the funds had been redirected to that foundation.Now those companies have all responded to the Democrats. ABC is the only company that shared any detail: It said it received word that the foundation has been authorized by the IRS as a nonprofit and that ABC expects to direct the money there. Paramount, Meta, and X confirmed their initial payments—but added nothing about the money’s current or intended whereabouts, the latter two citing confidentiality agreements in settlements with Trump.Warren says this leaves the location of most or all of the $63 million unknown. “Tens of millions of dollars are unaccounted for, and the American people are left completely in the dark,” Warren tells me.In their new letter to Trump, Warren and the other Democrats point out that at minimum, three of the companies “do not know or are not willing to share” information about the location of the money. They ask: Why was the initial fund dissolved? Did it contain the money when that happened? Why the need for a second organization—the foundation—on top of the fund? How much of the money is now in the foundation? Does Trump control this money?It is possible, of course, that it all could prove legally above-board.

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Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?
The New Republic

Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?

Left

Last year, four huge companies pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fund the creation of Donald Trump’s presidential library, a planned monstrosity in Miami that—in a perfect Trumpian twist—may also double as a hotel. The companies—ABC; Paramount; Meta; and X, formerly Twitter—entered into the agreements with Trump to settle legal cases he’d brought against them, which experts had dismissed as dubious.After the companies agreed to these shakedowns—sorry, settlements—the fund created to receive donations was dissolved last September. Since then, Senate Democrats have been asking: What happened to the money?Now there’s been an important new turn in this saga. The four companies have provided fresh information to Senate Democrats in written responses to their questions. For these Democrats, those responses—obtained by The New Republic—raise more questions than they answer. In these formal replies, all four companies confirmed that they did pledge that money to Trump’s library—itself a notable development. More importantly, however, the Democrats say the responses reveal that the money is still largely unaccounted for.“Not one of these companies can say with any clarity where their multi-million-dollar donations to Donald Trump’s library slush fund are, or where they will go,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who’s taken the lead in tracking this money, tells me in a statement.In a new letter to Trump, Warren and several other Democrats raise fresh questions about the replies and the money. They label the situation “deeply troubling,” particularly given Trump 2.0’s “vast tide of corruption and self-enrichment.”Indeed, the library saga combines many of the worst elements of Trump’s imperial presidency all in one project: his use of lawsuits to extort private entities for tribute; his garishly awful decorative and architectural taste; and his Nero-scale megalomania.To wit: Trump recently released a video rendering of the library that displayed a soaring skyscraper with the word “TRUMP” at the top in huge letters, massive screens playing his world-historical speeches, and enough Mar-a-Lago chintz to make you go blind. Trump recently declared that his library-and-hotel will outclass Barack Obama’s presidential library, which Trump derided as a “very unattractive building that’s seriously late and seriously over budget.”Clearly, Trump wants the world to know that he can erect a presidential skyscraper that’s bigger and more awesome than any presidential building that Obama erects.But we digress: Let’s talk about the money! The companies all settled lawsuits with Trump after his 2024 victory: Paramount for $16 million over a claim of fraudulent editing by CBS; Meta for $25 million and X for around $10 million over supposed censorship of Trump; and ABC for $15 million over alleged defamation. Experts criticized the lawsuits as weak and denounced the settlements as akin to extortion payments.Under those settlements, the companies donated virtually all that money to the library project, totaling at least $63 million. But then the fund where most of that money appeared to be directed—the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund—was dissolved by Florida officials amid the failure to file a required annual report. At that point, The Washington Post scooped that Democrats sent letters to the companies demanding information on what they knew about the whereabouts of their donations. Trump had established another, separate organization—the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc.—as a tax-exempt nonprofit also created to raise money for the library. The Democrats also demanded to know if the funds had been redirected to that foundation.Now those companies have all responded to the Democrats. ABC is the only company that shared any detail: It said it received word that the foundation has been authorized by the IRS as a nonprofit and that ABC expects to direct the money there. Paramount, Meta, and X confirmed their initial payments—but added nothing about the money’s current or intended whereabouts, the latter two citing confidentiality agreements in settlements with Trump.Warren says this leaves the location of most or all of the $63 million unknown. “Tens of millions of dollars are unaccounted for, and the American people are left completely in the dark,” Warren tells me.In their new letter to Trump, Warren and the other Democrats point out that at minimum, three of the companies “do not know or are not willing to share” information about the location of the money. They ask: Why was the initial fund dissolved? Did it contain the money when that happened? Why the need for a second organization—the foundation—on top of the fund? How much of the money is now in the foundation? Does Trump control this money?It is possible, of course, that it all could prove legally above-board.

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