Donald Trump may be lagging behind rival Hillary Clinton in national polls, but his businesses are riding high on his presidential bid.
A new analysis by Politico suggests that Trump’s campaign has paid $8.2 million so far to Trump businesses, about 7 percent of the $119 million spent to date.
The arrangement is unusual to say the least. No other recent presidential candidate has paid himself anywhere near that amount from private donors, according to Politico, “even the wealthiest of candidates have refrained from tapping their businesses’ resources to such an extensive degree.”
Among the services the campaign paid Trump companies:
— $34,500 for lodging and event staging at Trump National Doral golf course
— $48,200 for room rental and catering from the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York
— $142,000 to Trump Restaurants for rent, utilities, meals and office supplies
— More than $1 million to Trump Tower for office-space rental of the campaign’s headquarters
— $1,300 for Trump Ice and his bottled water
— Almost $5,000 to son Eric Trump’s Virginia winery for catering and event space
— Almost $6 million to a company called TAG Air for use of Trump’s private plane
— $432,000 to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., for lodging, rental and catering
The report raises further questions about whether or not Trump is seeking to line his pockets and recoup some of the money he’s given his campaign during the primary season.
So far, Trump has spent $54 million of his own money on his campaign.
Trump has been under fire in recent weeks for using his campaign to boost his businesses, including tricking reporters into a press conference that was essentially an infomercial for his new Washington, D.C. hotel.
Trump’s vast business ventures have also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. A close examination by Newsweek of the Trump Organization, published last week, concluded that, “If Trump moves into the White House and his family continues to receive any benefit from the company, during or even after his presidency, almost every foreign policy decision he makes will raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires.”
The Trump campaign declined TheWrap’s request for comment.