Trump not exactly self-funding his campaign

[ABX]

Nothing unusual here in how it is structured and done, for a typical politician; if you ignore he constant statements that he doesn't want donations and is self-funding.

Trump not exactly self-funding his campaign

The majority of money has come from donors. He’s made loans and in-kind contributions

Donald Trump often says that he does not get enough credit for self-funding his presidential campaign. But as his recent financial disclosure reveals, he is not funding most of it.

Instead, the majority of his campaign funding comes from donors. This quarter, the campaign received 73,942 “unsolicited donations” totaling about $3.7 million, according to a release from the campaign. That accounts for most of the $5.8 million the campaign has taken in to date....

...At the same time, Trump’s businesses have charged significant rent to the campaign. The campaign paid $144,000 for rent in the third quarter to Trump Tower Commercial LLC, Trump Restaurants LLC and the Trump Corp....

...Trump spent just more than $200,000 renting lists from conservative Newsmax Media. He returned an in-kind $84,237 contribution for catering from billionaire car dealer Ernie Boch Jr., because it exceeded the yearly legal limit of $2,700. Boch hosted an August fundraiser for Trump with more than 1,000 attendees at his mansion near Boston....

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/donald-trump-fec-fundraising-214838#ixzz3vrES1BrA

[ABX]

This does point to something that hasn't really been brought up much, his claims of self-financing are not accurate in another way. He is limited like any other citizen, to what he donates. His own money going to his campaign is through personal loans to the campaign- loans that have to be paid back from donor money.

Basically, when he says he is going to run $25 Million in ads in January using his own money, what he is saying is he will loan his campaign $25 Million for the ads, then the campaign will pay him back with interest. How will it pay him back; with donor money?

[ABX]

The hat/t-shirt sale thing is also interesting. The wholesale expense for hats & t-shirts are only $273K. Assuming no profit on each hat (and not even counting t-shirts) selling them for $30, that is only 9,100 hats sold (obviously less if he is making a profit from it as a campaign would). He made such a big point of the Make America Great Again hats, one would expect hundreds of thousands in sales. (to compare, in a non-campaign the RNC sold over 100k pairs of George HW Bush socks and profited over a million from them, off campaign season- http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/06/bush-41-socks-raked-in-1-million-for-rnc/ )

[alicewonders]

Sounds like he is doing things he is allowed to do by law.  You learn to be creative like that when you own a business, every dollar you earn that you can figure out how to legally keep is good!  I would love to see a president that knows how things work in the real world and knows how to stay on or under budget.  He is creatively self-financing, I don't think that's a bad thing.

[ABX]

Sounds like he is doing things he is allowed to do by law.  You learn to be creative like that when you own a business, every dollar you earn that you can figure out how to legally keep is good!  I would love to see a president that knows how things work in the real world and knows how to stay on or under budget.  He is creatively self-financing, I don't think that's a bad thing.

I agree he is being legal and creative, but not truthful with people with the claims of being self-financed.

[jmyrlefuller]

I agree he is being legal and creative, but not truthful with people with the claims of being self-financed.

Precisely, but at this point I don't really think most of his supporters particularly care about the truth.

[musiclady]

Precisely, but at this point I don't really think most of his supporters particularly care about the truth.

They don't.

[truth_seeker]

Trump should sell "Kool-Aide"

A whole lotta da stuff getting consumed this here political season.

[ABX]

Trump should sell "Kool-Aide"

A whole lotta da stuff getting consumed this here political season.

[musiclady]

Trump should sell "Kool-Aide"

A whole lotta da stuff getting consumed this here political season.

Don't you know, truth_seeker??  Trump's THE ONE we've been waiting for.  It doesn't matter what he says or does, or what his true political positions are.  He's the ONE.

(We've seen this happen before, haven't we?)

[Longiron]

Don't you know, truth_seeker??  Trump's THE ONE we've been waiting for.  It doesn't matter what he says or does, or what his true political positions are.  He's the ONE.

(We've seen this happen before, haven't we?)

What does your candidate DO or said and really tell ALL what their true political positions. Haters hate because they do not know how to WIN but they do no how to LOSE. Waiting to hear your response about YOUR candidate? 

[mountaineer]

What does your candidate DO or said and really tell ALL what their true political positions. Haters hate because they do not know how to WIN but they do no how to LOSE. Waiting to hear your response about YOUR candidate? 

You remind me of Tiger Woods' fans on social media sites. No matter what someone may say (his best days are over, he's not as great as Nicklaus, he should have stayed out of Waffle House, etc.), the slurpers' first comment always is "Haters!!!"    No, not hating, just a matter of believing that he's just another golfer.

Here's a concept: we can disagree with someone's political positions or choose not to support a particular candidate for rational reasons. We do not hate. We're not jealous. I certainly don't hate Trump. I just have a lot of doubts about his sincerity, given his previous not-at-all-conservative stances on everything from eminent domain to socialised medicine. Trump may not be "just another" politician, but we really ought to look at him as such. He's chosen to run for president, so what's the harm in taking a close look at what he's done and said over the years?

Reminder: it's not hate. It's reasonableness.

[Fishrrman]

Not sure what the problem is here.

Trump certainly has the resources, he can self-fund if he needs to.

But that doesn't mean that folks can't contribute if they feel like it.
That's what "supporters" do, is it not?
Obviously, some (perhaps many?) are doing so.
Even if it's just to "buy a hat".

By the way, I don't contribute to political candidates -- I don't care who they are.
I made only one exception to that, one time:
To Pat Buchanan.
HE said the same things I was thinking.

But anyone else since then?
No, thank you.

[ABX]

Not sure what the problem is here.

Trump certainly has the resources, he can self-fund if he needs to.

But that doesn't mean that folks can't contribute if they feel like it.
That's what "supporters" do, is it not?
Obviously, some (perhaps many?) are doing so.
Even if it's just to "buy a hat".

By the way, I don't contribute to political candidates -- I don't care who they are.
I made only one exception to that, one time:
To Pat Buchanan.
HE said the same things I was thinking.

But anyone else since then?
No, thank you.

It is the lie that he is self-funding. As I mentioned above, a candidate is restricted on how much he can donate like any citizen. He isn't funding his own campaign, he is just loaning the money to his campaign, which is paid back to himself with interest, from money given by donors. It is part of the big lie that he 'doesn't want your contribution'. Also in that it exposes he is having fundraisers sponsored by billionaires that he says he isn't. 

He is doing everything legally, he is just lying to his followers around the whole 'I don't want your money, it is a self-funded campaign' shtick.