Donald Trump announced he has given $1 million to a Marine Corp veterans' charity, in the wake of a controversy over fulfilling a pledge he made in January, according to
The Washington Post.
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, organized a fundraiser in Des Moines for veterans' charities held on Jan. 28, in which he raised $6 million for the charity — $1 million coming from the real estate mogul's own pocket.
According to the Post, Trump was asked for a full accounting of how much money the fundraiser made, but he refused to offer them. Then the Post, along with other media outlets, looked into Trump's claims, and found that no veterans' groups had received money from the billionaire developer.
After word got around on social media that the Post had been looking into his claims, Trump called the home of James K. Kallstrom, a former FBI official who chairs the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.
Kallstrom's wife, Sue, said Trump relayed the information that he would give the entire $1 million to the group, but she did not know if the money had been transferred.
The Post reports other donors had already made their donations.
During a phone interview, Trump said he had "a lot of vetting to do." The Post questioned that claim in its report, since apparently Trump already knew Kallstrom's foundation well — he received the group's "Commandant's Leadership Award" in 2015.
Sue Kallstrom praised Trump for the donation to the foundation, which provides $30,000 grants for children of fallen veterans.
"I guess he wants to help the vets," she said. "The foundation is thrilled, because the (money) is going to help a lot of people. Especially the children."
Trump appears to be preparing to send out more donations. Andrew Biggio, founder of Wounded Vets Bike Run, told the Post that a Trump campaign worker had contacted him asking for the group's nonprofit number.
The Post reports some veterans groups were searching for ways to contact the billionaire developer's organization to seek donations, but Biggio said he believes he knows why his group was contacted.
According to
CNN, Trump has not yet released a full accounting of how much money was raised.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.