Trump took money from children’s cancer charity, says Forbes

The Trump Organization diverted funds raised to battle cancer among children for his golf club, despite denials by organiser Eric Trump, a Forbes report says.

The Eric Trump Organization has reportedly raised $11 million over the past 10 years for the renowned St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, much of it through the event.

Eric Trump claims the family’s Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, is used for free for the event, while most of the other costs are donated.

“We get to use our assets 100 percent free of charge,” he told Forbes.

However, an investigation by the business media outlet has found that the family’s business has received payments for the event, with approximately $1.2 million having no documented recipients outside the Trump Organization.

In addition, over $500,000 donated to the children’s hospital was re-donated to charities connected to Trump family members or interests, Forbes reports. Several of the charities, which received portions of these re-directed donations, have later become clients of Trump’s golf courses.

According to tax returns cited by Forbes, the event cost an average of $50,000 a year from 2007 to 2010. However, in 2011 it ballooned to $142,000.

The reason was the increased involvement of Donald Trump, says former Trump National Westchester marketing director Ian Gillule.

“Mr. Trump had a cow,” he told Forbes. “"He flipped. He was like, 'We're donating all of this stuff, and there's no paper trail? No credit?' And he went nuts. He said, 'I don't care if it's my son or not—everybody gets billed.'"

"I would always say, 'I can't believe that his dad is billing him for a charitable outing.' But that's what they wanted."

The costs continued to escalate - $230,000 in 2013, $242,000 in 2014 and $322,000 in 2015.

Statements from Eric Trump quoted by Forbes fail to account for the sudden jump in expenses.

“Forbes couldn't come up with a plausible path to $322,000 given the parameters of the annual event (a golf outing for about 200 and dinner for perhaps 400 more),” the report says.

US President Donald Trump previously faced criticism after a media report on the Trump Foundation’s activities showed it had used charitable donations for Trump’s benefit, including purchasing a $20,000 portrait of Trump.

Following the election in November, the Trump Organization admitted to violating laws on ‘self-dealing’ – using money meant for a non-profit to benefit its owner.