Lessons From My Search for Donald Trump’s Personal Giving to Charity
1.) Trump does see charity — or at least the appearance of charity — as an important part of his public image
This started back in the 1980s, when Trump first became a national star with his book, “The Art of the Deal.” Even then, his public persona had two very different sides. On the one hand, Trump portrayed himself as a walking avatar of wealth, so rich he didn’t need more money. On the other hand…here he was, asking for your money, trying to sell you a book. Trump split the difference by promising to give the book’s proceeds to charity.
In the 2000s, when Trump returned to the national spotlight, he picked up the habit again. At various times, he promised to give away the proceeds of “The Apprentice,” “Trump University” and a real-estate rental to Moammar Gaddafi. As much as Trump cultivated the image of himself as a hard-nosed, high-living businessman, he seemed not to think that one dimension was enough. Until recently, Trump’s corporate biography summed his life up into two parts: “a deal-maker without peer, and an ardent philanthropist.”
2.) But Trump seems to want to acquire his reputation for charity as cheaply as possible, and with other people’s money if he can
In all, I’ve identified about $7.8 million that Trump has given to charity since 1984. That’s a great deal of money, but it is a rather paltry sum for a billionaire. If Trump is worth $10 billion now, as he claims, then his lifetime charity would be equal to 0.08 percent of his current net worth. Star Wars’ George Lucas, who is tied with Trump on Forbes’ list of billionaires, gave $925 million to charity in a single recent year.
Despite this relatively low total, Trump has employed a pair of strategies to make his charitable impact seem more impressive.
For one thing, he frequently attends charity galas and events, where attendance carries the implication (but not the requirement) that guests have made donations to the cause. I’ve even found galas where Trump was given a title like “honorary chairman” — with the implication of an even bigger gift — but actually gave nothing. In fact, Trump often *made* money on these galas, since they were held at his Florida clubs. Several of the charities said they were glad to have Trump as the honorary chairman anyway, since Trump’s name drew a crowd.
Separately, Trump seems to exploit the assumption that the money in the Donald J. Trump Foundation came originally from Donald J. Trump’s pocket. It doesn’t, and hasn’t for years. Instead, the foundation’s biggest recent gifts came from wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave a total $5 million (and won’t comment about why). Since then, Trump has been effectively giving the McMahons’ money away, but — because his name is on the foundation — the recipients often give Trump the credit.
More: The Daily 202: Lessons from my search for Donald Trump’s personal giving to charity