Any headline with the words “Trump donated” in it is false unless it’s some sort of convoluted tax avoidance or money laundering scheme.
“Because we did not find any evidence of Trump personally donating $25 million to Hurricane Helene, we found this claim to be unfounded. Other outlets, including LeadStories and MSN, rated this claim false.”
For the first time, Forbes 400 members are ranked not just on their total wealth and on how self-made they are, but also on their generosity. Members of this elite club have been scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most philanthropic. List members about whom we could find no charitable giving information received an N.A. (not available).
Nike cofounder Phil Knight and former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer each received a score of 4. Though each has given away more than $1 billion, those gifts were less than 20% of their net worth. In contrast, hedge fund manager Steve Mandel, whose lifetime giving Forbes estimates at $690 million, has donated more than 20% of his fortune to causes like reversing climate change and education equity. Three AirBnB cofounders—Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk—received a 2; their publicly-disclosed giving so far is minimal, in large part because their company is private, but all three have signed the Giving Pledge and made clear they will be active philanthropists. Seventy-six of the list members received a score of 1, including President Donald Trump, meaning they gave away less than $30 million or less than 1% of their fortune to date. In June, the New York attorney general filed a lawsuit against Trump, seeking $2.8 million plus penalties for allegedly using the foundation as a tool for his business and his presidential campaign. His lawyers say the case is politically motivated. (Editor’s Note: Elon Musk was erroneously included as 1 when Forbes first published the list; In 2015 Musk, who signed the Giving Pledge, gave 1.2 million Tesla shares worth $254 million to his foundation)
Helene hit in the last 4 days of September, so the idea that anyone, much less Trump, could move $25 million while it was still happening is just sillyness and nonsense.
Lol just like Santa
