NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is providing details of the charities that he says received millions of dollars from a veterans’ fundraiser that he held earlier this year.
Today’s announcement followed sustained pressure from media outlets trying to account for the money he promised.
Trump told reporters at a news conference in New York that his fundraiser raised $5.6 million. He said, “The money’s all been sent.” And he criticized the press for making the money an issue.
Trump had earlier claimed that he raised $6 million through a combination of pledges from wealthy friends, the public, and $1 million from himself. He said he had done so on the telethon-style fundraiser he held in Iowa in January as he boycotted a Fox News presidential debate.
But his campaign refused for months to disclose which charities received the money. And that led to speculation that the money raised was less than he had claimed.
Trump today complained, “It was very unfair that the press treated us so badly.”
One veterans’ group is complaining that Trump is using “veterans as political props.”
