June 24, 2016

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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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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