Donald Trump Gave $5K to the Hebrew Home for the Aged — But Why?
Donald Trump Image by Getty Images
As journalists continue to dig into Donald Trump’s charitable donations (or lack thereof), one particular donation stands out as not being like the others: a $5,000 contribution to the Hebrew Home for the Aged.
An investigation by Washington Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold revealed that, between 2010 and Trump’s $1 million donation to a veteran’s group this May, there are no records of any charity donations made by Trump or his foundation. While Trump’s press team claimed that he donated millions privately, they refused to provide any tax returns or other evidence of such donations to other publications.
From 2001, Trump did donate $2.8 million to some charities and organizations, along with a donation between $5,000 and $9,999 to the Police Athletic League of New York City in 2008. As he was becoming more well-known in the 1980s, Trump would often bring up his donations in the media — and he did donate $1.9 million between 1987 and 1991.
In 1988, Trump donated $5,000 to the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, Bronx, which is now run by RiverSpring Health. He also gave $40,000 to the Buckley School, which his son attended at the time, $10,000 for Homes for the Homeless, and $500 for the AIDS Care Center in New York. He also made two donations to the Fund of Aging Services — one for $500 and one for $10,000.
It is still unclear why Trump singled out this particular Jewish retirement home in the Bronx.
On July 12, Fahrenthold published an article that said he found charity donations under the name of Donald Trump over the last five years. Further investigation revealed that the reporter had confused the donor with Donald L. ‘Skip’ Trump, a New York oncologist. According to Fahrenthold, “Skip” Trump — whose name often comes up as “Donald Trump” in records — had made over $120,000 in donations to charity over the last five years and, in 2010, asked the more famous Donald Trump to support his cancer center’s “Balding for Bucks” fundraiser. Trump’s foundation made a contribution of $30,000.
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