Trump used an acting firm to source attendees for his presidential campaign announcement, and to clap and cheer. He paid $50 per person.

The campaign delayed payment to the acting firm until legal action was threatened.

Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager at the time, denied the claim during Trump’s presidency:

“There is nobody who believes that when Donald Trump goes somewhere he does not generate the biggest, largest, and most rambunctious crowds on the planet.”

After losing the election, Lewandowski admitted that actors had been hired:

“Michael Cohen decided that he was going to go hire one of his buddies and pay his buddy without getting any campaign approval. You know, $50 for every person to come in, to stand in Trump Tower.”

Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, later implicated the President in felony campaign finance violations related to money paid to silence Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump had an affair.

The Hill – Trump paid actors to cheer his 2016 launch: report
The Washington Post – Even the firm that hired actors to cheer Trump’s campaign launch had to wait to be paid
Business Insider – Trump aide says they paid actors to appear at his 2016 presidential campaign announcement