$1.1 Million – and Likely Much, Much More
President Trump’s remarks equating neo-Nazis and white supremacists with the people protesting them and their rally, his claim there was violence “on many sides” and later, placing blame on “both sides” is costing him. Bigly.
According to The Washington Post‘s David Farenthold, who tracks several of the ways Trump has been using his position as president to make money, 18 charities have canceled fundraising galas at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida since Trump’s offensive remarks. That number has doubled in just four days.
Here’s one of his tweets of his now-famous pads:
“In the past seven days — since President Trump said there were ‘fine people’ among those marching in a violence-plagued ‘Unite the Right’ demonstration in Charlottesville — the president’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida has been deserted by 18 charities that planned to use its ballrooms for fundraisers,” Farenthold, in an article written with Drew Harwell, reports.
“Those charities are key customers of Trump’s club: They can pay as much as $275,000 for a single night’s revelry. They also are an important marker of prestige in Palm Beach: When big galas are going on in Mar-a-Lago’s ballrooms, the island’s elite must come to Trump, gathering at a club that doubles as his home. Even as president, Trump has reveled in this role: He has dropped in to glad-hand and address the crowds.”
(MSNBC puts the number of cancellations at 19.)
According to the Post, the charities pay between $100,000 and $275,000, and reports that “lowball numbers yield an estimate of $1.1 million in revenue that Trump’s club could have expected” from 14 lost events.
It does seem the number could easily be much higher.
“In recent years, Mar-a-Lago has run profits between $4 million and $8 million, according to documents the club filed in court in Florida,” Farenthold notes. Those numbers are profits, not total revenue, and include other revenue streams, like membership fees.
The Post lists some of the charities that have canceled, and notes some may or may not be getting their deposits returned:
American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the American Cancer Society, American Friends of Magen David Adom, Leaders in Furthering Education, the Palm Beach Zoo, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, the Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity,  the Autism Project of Palm Beach County, and Gateway for Cancer Research.
Additionally, the Post reports several non-profits have canceled luncheons, which can mean “$24,000 to more than $80,000″ each for Mar-a-Lago: Bethesda Hospital Foundation, Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation, MorseLife, Hearing the Ovarian Cancer Whisper, the Unicorn Children’s Foundation, and Big Dog Ranch Rescue.
Two non-profits are sticking with Trump: The Palm Beach Police Foundation and the Palm Beach County Republican Party.
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Ninth Non-Profit This Week Cancels Mar-a-Lago Event Following Trump’s Charlottesville Response
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