News / Politics

Trump pocketed $123,000 from Qaddafi he claimed to have donated: Report

Saturday, 24 October 2020 9:43 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 24 October 2020 9:47 AM ]

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

US President Donald Trump has often overstated his public claims of charitable donations in the absence of tax documents to verify them, according to an investigate report on 18 years worth of his tax returns.

In 2009, for instance, former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi paid Trump $150,000 to stay at one of his properties. Although Qaddafi's stay was canceled following objections from local residents, Trump said he still received the money.

In an interview with CNN two years later, Trump claimed he had given all the money away in charitable donation.

The president’s 2009 tax returns, however, reported only $22,796 in business and personal cash gifts, according to the New York Times. That means Trump pocketed some $123,000 from the former strongman and later lied about it to the public.

New Tax Story: Donald Trump’s taxes show he didn't reach for his wallet for most of his charitable giving. The bulk of it came from donating land. His taxes also cast doubt on a number of charitable commitments he has boasted about. https://t.co/J6pWBIKZEE
— Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) October 23, 2020

Trump’s hidden financial records “cast doubt on a number of his charitable commitments and show that most of his giving came from land deals that offset his income,” the report said.

When Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he had claimed to have made over $102 million in charitable donations over the previous five years.

However, his tax returns from 2010 to 2014 revealed only $735,238 in cash donations and nearly $47 million in land easements – a form of charitable tax break for property owners -- and other non-cash gifts.

Trump under investigation over tax returns

A US court is seeking US President Donald Trump’s tax returns as part of a criminal investigation of his organization.

In response to questions from the Times, Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said, “President Trump gives money privately. It’s impossible to know how much he’s given over the years.”

The Donald J. Trump Foundation, once described as the charitable arm of the president’s financial empire, was dissolved in 2018 following shocking patterns of illegality, including allegations of self-dealing to benefit Trump, his businesses and his campaign.

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