A damning new CNN report has revealed how Trump's businesses are making loads of cash, not only off other Republicans hoping to gain Trump's favor, but also Trump's own campaign is funneling money to him in some very crazy ways. [00:00:17] Let's start with the spending by other Republicans. CNN explains that about 150 congressional candidates have reported sending campaign spending campaign funds at Trump businesses. Most of them have received then an endorsement from Trump at some point [00:00:34] in their political careers. These include politicians like Herschel Walker, Kari Lake and Bernie Moreno, who's running for the Senate in Ohio, and some of the great intellectuals of our society, no doubt. In April 2023, as Moreno prepared to run for the Senate, [00:00:51] he reported two payments at Mar-A-Lago totaling about $13,000 for event catering. That same day, one of those payments was made, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had heard Moreno, who he called a highly respected businessman probably [00:01:08] because he paid him directly money, was thinking of running for the Senate and that he would not be easy to beat. Trump endorsed Moreno months later on December 19th. On December 21st, Moreno reported spending nearly 17,000 more dollars at Mar a Lago, [00:01:26] then spent another $80, 000 there in January, when his campaign held a fundraiser at the resort that raised about $350,000 in donations. Herschel Walker's campaign spent over $200,000 at Mar a Lago. [00:01:43] At least he won. What? I'm being told he did not win the race. That was a waste of money. Kari lake's campaign has spent over $100,000 at Mar a Lago this year. And I'm getting reports also. Is that correct? She did not win. That is wild. So it's just even bribing Trump, it seems, without even getting the payoff [00:02:03] of the office you're hoping to bribe the money with. That's my take on it, but I'm curious to hear the rest of the panel. Jordan, what are your thoughts on this madness? Hey, don't scroll away. Come back, come back. Because before the video continues, we just want to urge you to lend your support to TYT. [00:02:20] You power our honest reporting. You do it at t.com/team and we love you for it. Yeah it's it's such a grift. I mean this is probably one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason why Trump is running again. Because you look on the campaign trail, he's not out there. [00:02:36] We just talked about it in the last hour. And I'm sure you both will agree. His heart does not seem to be in it as much as we saw in 2020 and 2016. He's playing the same old tired bits. He's going back into the archives for old material. He doesn't have the juice and he's letting JD Vance do most of the photo ops. [00:02:54] But for him, he knows being in this position is a good way to make money. Not saying a lot, but it's a substantial amount relative to what the average person would see. So these are good chunks of change for somebody just to have their name on a building. [00:03:09] It's why he had the post office in D.C. Turned into the Trump Hotel. And then as soon as he it became inconvenient, too big of a headache, too big of an ethical concern. Then he got rid of it. So this is why he is doing this, I think, largely so he can profit off of it. [00:03:25] He could direct all of the government services. He could direct all of his events to his hotel. You probably both remember while he was president, he was charging ridiculous rates for the Secret Service to stay at his golf clubs, at his hotels, at his resorts. [00:03:41] He was profiting off of the government, off of our tax dollars. And he's doing the same again. He still has Secret Service protection, but he's also doing it from these campaigns. Maybe it's a bribe. Maybe it's a term for it's in. It's in exchange for an endorsement. [00:03:57] Kari Lake, like you point out, she's polling terribly in this Arizona race, but she's a Trump diehard, So it makes sense for her. Bernie Moreno. I don't know if that's going to help him against Sherrod Brown. That's a tough race for him. Sherrod Brown is beloved by a lot of people in Ohio, even Republicans. [00:04:15] He's like the only Democrat that can win statewide there. So Bernie money, Bernie Moreno is just burning money in what could be a close race, but he's just doing it to curry favor with Trump. It's kind of funny to watch. Burning money might be his new best nickname. I think that might be the way to refer to him, because the problem [00:04:34] is not even just that he is, not helping people win, but they're afraid if they don't give this money that he's going to attack them. He attacks his own. As long as you're not a loyalist. And you make also a great point there as well, Jordan, that he's barely campaigning and his heart doesn't seem in it. [00:04:49] He criticized Biden in 2020 for staying in his basement the whole time, and he just held a press conference at Mar-A-Lago saying, I'm doing lots from here and doing the interviews of the TV of the radio, and he's just doing it all from his own bunker. Just happens to have some gold on the wall. Mondale, what say you on this madness? [00:05:07] I mean, listen, I think I think Jordan was spot on when he said Trump doesn't seem to be in it. Let me take let me take this second to apologize to all of our viewers, because I'm at an airport in Flint, Michigan, on the campaign trail, unlike Trump. So all the background noise is what you're hearing. [00:05:23] But but let's let's be clear. Trump. Trump is only running because he got attorney bills. He got bills that he can't afford to pay. He has fees that the court is going to obligate him to pay real soon. And he knows he needs someone to pay for it. And what better group than the 30 or so million [00:05:40] of die hard Trump supporters to do that? I'm super excited about people wasting their money with Trump, instead of spending it on something that could actually turn out voters, you know, like having conversations or hiring organizers. So continue to go to Mar-A-Lago and trip over gold things that don't, that don't [00:05:55] and will not help you win an election. Yeah, I can't argue that. And also, you've got great noise canceling because we literally hear no background noise. Just so you know, you can rest easy on that. Trump's campaign is the biggest spender on his own businesses by a lot. [00:06:11] You might not be surprised. Easiest way for him to funnel money. So you think the amounts we just told you are a lot. Listen to this. CNN reports. Since his first bid for President Trump's principal campaign committee and associated PACs and super PACs have spent more than $28 million on his businesses. [00:06:30] Now we're getting into the real money, and you see the real grift happening, even at that very much next level. Most of that money hasn't gone to Mar-A-Lago. Instead, it's been funneled into Tag Air Inc., which operates Trump's Boeing 757 [00:06:45] jet, otherwise known as Trump Force One. Maybe because it's the one thing it doesn't have Trump's name on it, and it might be a little bit less obvious for people to see the correlation. But again, Trump controlled. Trump owned his campaign, and associated committees have spent more than $14 [00:07:02] million on air travel from Tag Air Inc. The company is listed as being worth between 5 million and $25 million, and Trump reported earning $4.4 million income from the company. He also reported earning $56.9 million from Mar-A-Lago. [00:07:23] Does this violate any laws? Surprisingly, it does not seem to directly violate any laws. According to Daniel Wiener, director of the Brennan Centers Elections and Government Program, stating that it's not illegal for business. I mean, for candidates rather to spend campaign funds at their own businesses [00:07:40] provided that the businesses are charging them a fair market rate. But Wiener noted that donors may not realize some of their contributions are going indirectly into Trump's pockets. That plus, as Jordan mentioned, if you remember, these rates are not always being charged at fair market rates. [00:07:57] The huge criticism Trump has been receiving for insanely inflating it, or for charging his own secret Service exorbitant rates. Do you think maybe the people protecting your life should get the friends and family rate? I would think so. Maybe that's why they're being a little fast and loose with this security. That's just my own personal guess. Jordan. [00:08:16] Yeah. Isn't there a. First responder discount they've got that at like Denny's. Trump. Trump can't swing that for golf carts and rooms at his resorts. Just he's such he's such a crook. Like I just don't understand. And I know people are so like bought in on this cult of personality, [00:08:33] but I still don't understand how there are people who are worried about paying their grocery bills, who are worrying about keeping the lights on, just making ends meet, or living from paycheck to paycheck. How they don't see this guy and think he's a total fraud, I just what [00:08:48] more will it take, if anything at all? Maybe it's just they won't they won't ever recognize that or realize that. And that's that's a sad state of affairs. Some of this money though, you're talking about the money going into from the campaign into his businesses directly. They've hit members of Congress, the members of the squad [00:09:06] for ticky tack Tax stuff like I think it was Ilhan Omar's husband provided like website development services. One of the members of the squad had developed a website for them and charged a fair market rate for it just happened to be a skill they had and they did it. [00:09:24] And they like, made this into this huge scandal. Oh my God, how could you do that? You hired somebody that you're married to or engaged to. Who cares? You're talking about funneling millions, tens of millions directly from the campaign into your own businesses for this type of stuff, [00:09:41] not to mention all of the family members he's hired, all the money he's funneled to all of his different family members for campaign advisor spots. They're enriching everybody in that family off of these donors like contributions. [00:09:57] It is such a scam. Yeah, they were probably mostly offended that that, that squad members husband charged fair market rates. They thought that was just like a sucker move Mondale. I mean, listen, I spent a lot of time in DC guys, and I don't know if you remember [00:10:12] when Trump was in office, nobody wanted to do business or that were doing business with the white House or that was on a state visit, stayed anywhere other than Trump Hotel. It was absolutely disgusting. It was. They were charging $900 for meals that were probably worth 30, 37. Right. [00:10:29] And of course, I'm exaggerating it. But there was also something else going on where you said, Jordan, you said something about the family, all of the families making money or are just like horrible people. I don't know if you say horrible people, but I just put that in your mouth. Do you remember when his when Jared Kushner and Trump's daughter were living [00:10:47] in Georgetown, they would not even let Secret Service use their bathroom. The federal government had to pay some of the neighbors in Georgetown for the Secret Service to go use other people's bathroom while they were doing eight and nine hour shifts to protect these people. So the idea that people are going to find out about the Trumps [00:11:03] and then lose their mind, it's not going to happen simply because Trump hates the people they hate And he does. He does it out loud and I think that's enough to keep those people exactly where they are. This is nothing. This is not a policy relationship. This is not a quid pro quo relationship. [00:11:20] They're not getting anything from Trump other than the the the ability to use any amount of hate towards any people that are not like them. And that is okay enough for them. Yeah, that seems to be the state of affairs over there in today's Republican Party. [00:11:35] You have to bow down to Trump. You got to pay what it seems he needs you to pay, and then let the chips fall where they may. It's corrupt. It's wild. They don't see it, but they don't. Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. [00:11:52] You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. You've got emojis of me Anna John Jr. So those are super fun. But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows and specials right after they air. [00:12:08] So all of that, all you got to do is click that join button right underneath the video. Thank you.