Trump discloses earning at least $9 million since leaving White House

Washington: Former US president Donald Trump has filed his first personal financial disclosure since leaving the White House, offering insight into his post-presidency earnings.

The disclosure, required because Trump is again a candidate for president, was made just in time to avoid a $US200 ($300) late fee from the Federal Election Commission.

The 100-page filing enumerates Trump’s management positions at a pair of businesses involved in marketing digital trading cards of him and promoting his speaking engagements, as well as at Trump Media and Technology Group, the company that made his social networking site, Truth Social.

Because the value of those companies, and the income Trump is deriving from them, is disclosed in broad ranges, it is not possible to know precisely his earnings from the ventures. He disclosed making more than $US5 million from a company called CIC Ventures that manages his speaking engagements and as much as $US1 million from CIC Digital, which has sold digital images of him in the form of non-fungible tokens.

Trump Media, which had been expected to merge with an investment vehicle that would provide an infusion of financing, was estimated to have value between $US5 million and $US25 million. Trump disclosed having a 90 per cent stake in the company but taking income of no more than $US200.

Friday’s filing shows that Trump is still earning significant royalties from his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal. His income from the book, which helped make him a household name, is between $US100,001 and $US 1 million.

It also offers a window into Trump’s proceeds from his company’s new overseas dealings.

Last year, a Saudi real estate developer, Dar Al Arkan, announced an agreement with the Trump Organisation for a $US4 billion project in Oman that will bring a Trump-branded golf course, hotel and villas to the Persian Gulf state. But the statement did not divulge the financial details of the agreement.

Trump’s new disclosure suggests he is making more than $US5 million from the deal, via a firm called DT Marks Oman. The company is almost entirely owned by another corporation that Trump has traditionally used for his business trademarks.

A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the filing.

The disclosure offers valuable insight to voters as they decide whether to put Trump back in the White House, said Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. It may also open him up to criticism from his Republican rivals, Painter added.

For example, the filing shows that Trump owns shares in Pfizer as well as Johnson & Johnson, pharmaceutical giants that have come under criticism from parts of the Republican base for producing and marketing two of the coronavirus vaccines.

The financial disclosure is mandated under an anti-corruption law that dates back to the Watergate era. Trump’s previous disclosures, dating back to 2015, have detailed his earnings on everything from real estate projects to branded products to book royalties.

Candidates for president are required to file the disclosures with the FEC within 30 days of launching their campaigns. A lawyer for Trump sought and received two 45-day extensions to that deadline.

Last month, the Trump lawyer, Derek Ross, sought an additional 30-day extension, citing the “complexities of his financial holdings” but the acting general counsel of the FEC denied the request, writing that a fine of $US200 would be levied if the filing was delayed more than 30 days after the March 15 deadline. The FEC’s letter also noted that an additional personal financial disclosure was due on May 15.

The Washington Post

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