The biggest beneficiary has been Trump Tower Commercial LLC, which controls the president’s famed Manhattan skyscraper.
Trump still owns the entity, which has accepted $1.2 million in rent from the re-election effort and another $225,000 from the Republican National Committee. Since Trump became president, an estimated 1.6% of the tower’s revenue has come from either the RNC or the re-election campaign. The majority of Trump Tower’s income comes from Gucci, which leases 49,000 square feet of prime retail space on Fifth Avenue for roughly $21 million a year.
In the basement of Trump Tower, a much-smaller space now serves as an official campaign store, selling hats, T-shirts, signs and other memorabilia. The rent payments for that spacethrough an entity called Trump Restaurants LLC, which has taken in $87,000 of rent since Trump became president. On a price-per-square-foot basis, the campaign may be paying more for that basement space than Gucci is paying for its street-level location upstairs.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization ignored specific questions about the expenditures, instead issuing a general statement asserting that the transactions are legal. “The campaign pays fair market value under negotiated rental agreements and other service agreements in compliance with the law,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The campaign works closely with campaign counsel to ensure strict compliance in this regard.
The Trump Corporation, another one of the president’s companies, collected $65,000 from the Trump campaign in the first nine months of 2019, more than it did during all of 2018. Campaign filings list those expenses as “legal and IT consulting.” It is not clear why the Trump Organization is charging the campaign for such things, or why the expenses increased since 2018.
There are additional questions about money flowing into Trump Plaza LLC, which collects roughly $3,850 in monthly rent, according to the filings. Trump Plaza LLC controls a property on Third Avenue in New York City, which includes 128 parking spaces, seven storefronts and eight residential units.ForbesOne high-profile property that did not take in much money during the first nine months of 2019? The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
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