Trump rails against media scrutiny over delayed donations to veterans groups

The fundraiser allegedly raised $6 million for veterans’ groups (the actual amount turned out to be $5.6 million), with $1 million coming from Trump himself.

More than a dozen Republican presidential candidates spent a year of the nominating contest waiting for someone else to attack and take down Donald Trump.

Trump has an aversion to the press: He wants to change libel laws to make it easier for politicians to sue reporters, he sets aside a moment at his rallies for his supporters to turn around and boo the assembled media, and he refuses to issue press credentials to unfriendly outlets who want to cover his campaign events.

Trump was so bothered, in fact, that he stepped on his own good news – interrupting his recitation of $5.6 million in donations to veterans to complain again about the media. “What I got was worse than credit, because they were questioning me”.

On the night of the January 28 fundraiser, Trump was at the top of his political game. The Republican nominee declined to attend a Fox News debate back in January, instead holding his own televised fundraiser for veterans.

Trump faced prosaic tasks, where celebrity and showmanship were of little help.

Reporter: Documents released on Tuesday instructors describe themselves as hand selected by Mr. Trump but those claim that was not the case and trump is facing a similar lawsuit here in NY related to the school. “It will probably be over that amount when it’s all said and done, but as of this moment, it’s $5.6 million”, Trump asserted today at a news conference at Trump Tower in NY.

“Llamas does not see his job as reporting the news but to create news, and only does so by hurling left-wing talking points that create sound bites for Hillary Clinton”. If a candidate claims to have raised $6 million for veterans’ charities but there’s no clear indication that $6 million has been disbursed to veterans’ charities, it’s the press’ job to determine what the hell is going on.

He repeatedly criticized the press for making the money an issue, saying reporters “should be ashamed of themselves” for asking where the money had gone. This does not always mean that the press always makes the most of Trump’s availabilities or that Trump uses the time to offer thoughtful responses.

“I wasn’t looking for the credit, but I had no choice but to do this because the press was saying I didn’t raise any money for them”, Trump said.

Tuesday’s press conference-during which Trump stood at his usual Trump podium, with a handful of veterans standing behind him-appeared to be an attempt by his campaign to put these questions to bed once and for all. Donald Trump telling the press exactly how he feels but also a San Diego judge he’s not happy with.

Democrats said Trump gave the money only after pressure from the public and reporters.

Numerous new gifts disclosed by Trump on Tuesday were originally from other donors, who had entrusted funds to the Donald J. Trump Foundation on the promise that Trump would then give them away. The Associated Press found that many of those checks were dated May 24.

In May, four months after Trump said he had donated the money, Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold reached out to various veteran groups and asked them if they had received a check from the business mogul. “We vet the vets”.

The important thing here is that Trump did right by the vets, one of his core constituencies.

Attacks on the press carry a long and distinguished lineage in the rhetoric of American political campaigns.