function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); Donald Trumps re-election fundraising is already going gangbusters, and so is the income his own businesses are reaping from the contributions. The presidents 2020campaign has already spent close to $500,000 on Trumps businesses, from golf resorts to Trump Tower rent, according to new campaign finance filings.The spending is similar to the pattern in Trumps first presidential campaign when a significant chunk of contributions went to his own companies. In the single month of May last year, Trumps campaign spent more than $1 million on catering, rents and utilities at more than a half-dozen Trump-owned companies and properties. The campaign spent $350,000 alone to Trumps TAG Air for the use of private jets and helicopters. According to the latest reports filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission, Trump has spent $6.3 million in re-election funds the first quarter of the year. Among the nearly half-a-million dollars spent on Trump operations, $274,000 was paid in rent to Trump Towerin Manhattan where the re-election operation is headquartered, according to a tally of the reported figures totted up by the Wall Street Journal.An additional$59,000 was spent on stays at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, and$14,000 went for food and rent to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.The campaign raised $13.2 million through three committees the first quarter, and has a staff of 20. As of the end of March the campaign had $16 million in the bank, Politico reportsThe filings also reveal the salaries of Trumps reelection workers, including 27-year-old John Pence, nephew of Vice President Mike Pence, who was paid $40,000 for the first three months of the year.One of the biggest payments went to the San Antonio digital media firmrun by the campaigns digital director Brad Parscale, which raked in a cool$1.6 million.Trumps re-election fundraising is already the target of a complaint by Common Causeand the Campaign Legal Center. The complaint, filed with the Federal Election Commission, accused the campaign of improperly encouraging donors to contribute the maximum allowed by law twice, once for retiring old campaign debt (which doesnt exist, according to the watchdog organizations), then again for the 2020 race.type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5880856ae4b00d44838d31a3,587f928ee4b0cf0ae8810f52 -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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