Most of the costs have been for extra security provided by the respective municipalities.
The Washington Post – The Trump campaign has over $1 million in outstanding bills from American cities
Business Insider – The Trump campaign has racked up over $1 million in unpaid bills from US cities
The Secret Service is obligated to follow Trump to his private resorts and across golf courses. He played golf for approximately 20% of all days spent in office, racking up over $100 million in travel costs by his third year. Trump had repeatedly attacked Obama for his own golfing habits.
Quartz – Trump’s golf cart rental expenses set to surpass $500,000
Yahoo Finance – Trump golf cart rentals have now cost US taxpayers more than half a million dollars
The Golf News Net – The Secret Service has spent almost $550,000 on golf carts to protect Donald Trump
While Trump has attacked Gold Star families and caused a war widow to cry, in another phone call, Trump offered $25,000 as condolences to the grieving family.
The check didn’t arrive until a few months later, after the Washington Post ran a story that made the offer public for the first time. The family received the personal check a few days later, which was dated the same day as when the story was released. The White House explained that “the check has been in the pipeline since the president’s initial call with the father,” and that there were just several processes that needed to first be navigated.
Nevertheless, the family received their promised check.
The Washington Post -Trump offered a grieving military father $25,000 in a phone call
Business Insider – Gold Star family receives $25,000 personal check from Trump — signed on the same day as a Washington Post exposé
CNN – Trump sends $25,000 check to fallen soldier’s family on same day as Washington Post report
Williams issued a cease-and-desist for the use of his song, and condemned the choice to do so hours after 11 people were murdered at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Trump has repeatedly used songs without permission and received similar legal threats, including for songs by R.E.M., Aerosmith, Prince, Adele, and the Rolling Stones, among others.
Time – Pharrell Demands President Trump Stop Playing ‘Happy’ at His Political Rallies
BBC News – Pharrell orders Donald Trump to stop playing his music
Quartz – All the pop songs artists have asked Donald Trump not to use, in one playlist
Most of the costs have been for extra security provided by the respective municipalities.
The Washington Post – The Trump campaign has over $1 million in outstanding bills from American cities
Business Insider – The Trump campaign has racked up over $1 million in unpaid bills from US cities
The author of Moneyball and The Big Short wrote about the transition,
The first time Trump paid attention to any of this was when he read about it in the newspaper. The story revealed that Trump’s very own transition team had raised several million dollars to pay the staff. The moment he saw it, Trump called Steve Bannon, the chief executive of his campaign, from his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, and told him to come immediately to his residence, many floors above. Bannon stepped off the elevator to find Christie seated on a sofa, being hollered at. Trump was apoplectic, yelling: You’re stealing my money! You’re stealing my fucking money! What the fuck is this?
Seeing Bannon, Trump turned on him and screamed: Why are you letting him steal my fucking money? Bannon and Christie together set out to explain to Trump federal law. Months before the election, the law said, the nominees of the two major parties were expected to prepare to take control of the government. The government supplied them with office space in downtown DC, along with computers and rubbish bins and so on, but the campaigns paid their people. To which Trump replied: Fuck the law. I don’t give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money. Bannon and Christie tried to explain that Trump couldn’t have both his money and a transition.
Shut it down, said Trump. Shut down the transition.
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
