Donald Trump’s “Giving Tuesday” Message Reminded Us How Little He Gives to Others

And how much he gives to himself.

Hannah Foslien/Getty

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In honor of Giving Tuesday, Donald Trump issued a presidential message encouraging people to donate to charity and applauding the generosity of the American people: “Through acts of charity, we reveal the compassionate foundation of our country. Acts of kindness are hallmarks of our great Nation, and we acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the many organizations that provide love, hope, care, and counseling all year long, especially on #GivingTuesday,” it said. 

The dispatch didn’t say whether Trump planned to make any donations of his own, but in the past, the president has regularly pretended to be a bigger donor than he really was. And in many cases, he has found creative and unusual ways to use his family’s charitable foundation to give back—to himself.

Some of those actions have landed Trump and his three adult children in legal trouble. This past summer, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood brought a civil suit against the Trumps, alleging “persistently illegal conduct” at the Donald J. Trump Foundation. “In the absence of a functioning board”—the foundation’s board of directors allegedly hasn’t held a meeting in nearly 20 years—”Mr. Trump ran the Foundation according to his whim, rather than the law,” the suit said.

In honor of Giving Tuesday, here are some of the foundation’s greatest hits:

  • Paying $10,000 for a large portrait of Trump, one of two portraits of its namesake the Trump Foundation is known to have purchased. It was later found on the wall of Trump National Doral Miami, one of the president’s for-profit golf resorts. (Citing a charitable interpretation of IRS rules, a Trump spokesman said the move was “absolutely proper” because the Doral was simply “storing” the portrait for the Trump Foundation.)

  • Allowing staffers from Trump’s presidential campaign to control the distribution of money that Trump raised for veterans’ organizations as part of a televised event he held in January 2016 in lieu of attending a debate hosted by Fox News—which Trump was feuding with at the time. Underwood’s lawsuit described the event as “a Trump Campaign event in which the Foundation participated.” Nonprofits like the Trump Foundation are not allowed to take part in political campaigns. Trump also claimed he would personally donate $1 million to the veterans groups—which he did only after the media badgered him for four months.

If all this weren’t enough, most of the above-mentioned donations may have been from people other than Trump. In at least five out of the last nine years, he hasn’t donated a cent to his family foundation, though others have.

You can read the “Presidential Message on #GivingTuesday”  below. For extra fun, try to imagine these words actually coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth. 

During this joyous time of year, we give thanks for the many blessings of the season and remember those less fortunate as we reaffirm our commitment to generosity, kindness, and charitable giving.

Through acts of charity, we reveal the compassionate foundation of our country.  Acts of kindness are hallmarks of our great Nation, and we acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the many organizations that provide love, hope, care, and counseling all year long, especially on #GivingTuesday.

As one Nation, we know there is no challenge too great for the American people to overcome.  American resilience is evident not just in the selfless deeds of first responders, service members, and volunteers, but also in the extraordinary generosity and benevolence of American families, businesses, and organizations that know that no kind gesture is too insignificant, no length of time volunteering is too short, and no contribution to charity is too small.  May this holiday season be a reminder of the blessings we enjoy and of our duty to ensure that the spirit of American greatness continues to lift up people in need throughout our communities.

Melania and I thank all those who have dedicated their time, talents, and resources to charitable causes over this past year, and we encourage you to look for opportunities to contribute this coming year.

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The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

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