The Trump Files: When Donald Wanted to Help the Clintons Buy Their House

Ivylise Simones

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Until the election, we’re bringing you “The Trump Files,” a daily dose of telling episodes, strange but true stories, or curious scenes from the life of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton wasn’t always “Crooked Hillary” to Donald Trump. Back in 1999, she was just a friend who the real estate mogul wanted to help save some money on a house.

The Clintons bought a $1.7 million dollar house in Chappaqua, New York, in September of that year as they prepared for life after the White House. Trump was aghast that they’d shelled out that much. “They really got ripped [off] on the house,” he told Larry King that October, about a month after the Clintons bought their new home. “One of my people who actually runs my golf course, which is literally a couple of minutes away from where they’re living, came up and said, ‘Why did they pay so much for that house?'”

Trump didn’t know why, but he was sure he could have cut President Clinton—and the First Lady, whom he described as “a wonderful woman who has handled pressure incredibly well” in The Art of the Comeback, his 1997 book—a much better deal. “I think I could save them about $600,000 or $700,000,” he said to King. “I really wish I could have represented them on the purchase of that house.”

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We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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