March 22, 2020

Trump Wouldn’t Rule Out Sending Coronavirus Stimulus Cash to His Own Properties

Jim Loscalzo/CNP via Zuma

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At today’s daily coronavirus task force press conference-slash-MAGA rally, President Trump wouldn’t rule out bailing out his own hotel business with the stimulus funds currently stuck at a Congressional impasse.

“Will you commit publicly that none of that taxpayer money will go toward your own personal properties?” asked a reporter, posing the question on all of our minds, especially as it appears some senators took the opportunity weeks ago of cashing in their knowledge of the outbreak by dumping stock in highly-exposed industries before the crash. The most prominent senator among them, Richard Burr (R–N.C.), says his trades occurred within the context of public news reports, and are now the subject of an ethics probe.

“Everything’s changing, just so you understand. It’s all changing. But I have no idea,” Trump mused. “Let’s just see what happens. Because we have to save some of these great companies.”

To even arrive at that non-response, Trump careened through his typical toxic mix of self-praise and victimhood.

“I committed publicly that I wouldn’t take the $450,000 [presidential] salary. It’s a lot of money,” Trump remarked. “And I did it. Nobody cared—nobody, nobody said, ‘thank you.’”

Watch:

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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