After the companies agreed to these shakedowns—sorry, settlements—the fund created to receive donations was dissolved last September. Since then, Senate Democrats have been asking: What happened to the money?
In these formal replies, all four companies confirmed that they did pledge that money to Trump’s library—itself a notable development. More importantly, however, the Democrats say the responses reveal that the money is still largely unaccounted for.
In a new letter to Trump, Warren and several other Democrats raise fresh questions about the replies and the money. They label the situation “deeply troubling,” particularly given Trump 2.0’s “vast tide of corruption and self-enrichment.”
To wit: Trump recently released a video rendering of the library that displayed a soaring skyscraper with the word “TRUMP” at the top in huge letters, massive screens playing his world-historical speeches, and enough Mar-a-Lago chintz to make you go blind. Trump recently declared that his library-and-hotel will outclass Barack Obama’s presidential library, which Trump derided as a “very unattractive building that’s seriously late and seriously over budget.”
But we digress: Let’s talk about the money! The companies all settled lawsuits with Trump after his 2024 victory: Paramount for $16 million over a claim of fraudulent editing by CBS; Meta for $25 million and X for around $10 million over supposed censorship of Trump; and ABC for $15 million over alleged defamation. Experts criticized the lawsuits as weak and denounced the settlements as akin to extortion payments.
At that point, The Washington Post scooped that Democrats sent letters to the companies demanding information on what they knew about the whereabouts of their donations. Trump had established another, separate organization—the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc.—as a tax-exempt nonprofit also created to raise money for the library. The Democrats also demanded to know if the funds had been redirected to that foundation.
Warren says this leaves the location of most or all of the $63 million unknown. “Tens of millions of dollars are unaccounted for, and the American people are left completely in the dark,” Warren tells me.
It is possible, of course, that it all could prove legally above-board. If what ABC says is true, then the foundation has received IRS approval, and at least one company (ABC) plans to direct its money there. That could end up happening, and the three other companies could do the same.
Molly Clafin, a lawyer who represents people targeted in congressional investigations, points out that without more transparency, there’s no way to know whether the transfer to the foundation is even happening. “It should be simple enough for the Trump team to show the legal transfer,” Clafin says.
Recall that when Trump accepted a $400 million luxury plane gift from Qatar, he then promised to donate it to his library, which raised questions about whether he’d simply help himself to it once out of office. Warren tells me she’s concerned that the same might happen with the library cash: “Why should Americans trust that this money isn’t going straight into Trump’s pockets?”
“Even if the money doesn’t go to the president personally, he’s soliciting large amounts for something that’s very important to him—from companies that are enormously affected by his decisions,” government ethics expert Noah Bookbinder told me. “This creates a massive ethical problem.”
And in Trump’s case, the larger context makes the situation even more troubling: This is only the latest way he’s turned the presidency into a giant Bribe Delivery System. Trump family members are launching a $500,000-per-member club enabling the ultrawealthy to channel cash their way. Trump’s donor-funded ballroom, and the family’s crypto deals and overseas real estate projects, create still more avenues for buying favoritism from the president. His threats against law firms and universities have incentivized them to fork over enormous sums to Trump’s pet causes.
Whether the loot ends up in Trump’s pocket or goes to causes he pretends to care about, these are functionally extortion payments. They will continue to unfold in plain sight. They are already growing increasingly normalized. As for who can put a stop to this lunacy—well, only we can.
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