Donald Trump spells out charitable gifts, veterans demand apology
Presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump today announced the names of the charities that he said received millions of dollars from his fundraising efforts earlier this year for veterans' causes.
Trump, speaking at a news conference in New York, listed some 40 charitable organizations that received a total of $5.6 million US, raised through a combination of pledges from wealthy friends and the public, and $1 million from himself.
Groups included the Foundation for America's Veterans, the Green Berets Foundation and the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, the last of which received the largest donation of $1.1 million.
Many of the donations were between $100,000 and $200,000. Trump said all of the money has been paid out, except for one group for which the vetting process wasn't yet complete.
"Every one of those cheques … has been passed," he said.
Trump claimed earlier this year to have raised the money, but his campaign refused to disclose which charities had received it, leading some to speculate that the money raised was less than he had claimed.
As Trump read the list out loud to reporters, he paused repeatedly to criticize how the story has played out in the media — and at one point singled out an ABC reporter who was in the room, calling him a "sleaze."
"The press should be ashamed of themselves," he said. "You make me look very bad."
He said he is open to scrutiny, but "didn't want credit" for the donations.
Veterans respond
Trump has worked to mend fences with veterans since last year when, in remarks aimed at Arizona senator and former POW John McCain, he said he likes "people who weren't captured" in wars.
He frequently honours veterans at his rallies, and has come out with a plan to overhaul the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. At a Washington, D.C., biker rally over the weekend, he said people in the U.S. illegally receive better care than military veterans do.
Veterans groups protesting outside Trump Tower on Tuesday accused him of using veterans as "political props" while undermining the values for which they fought.
"Donald Trump cannot buy the votes of veterans of this country," said organizer Alexander McCoy, though he said he was glad to see those groups, some of which he was familiar with, get funding.
Protesters said Trump's inflammatory remarks against Muslims and other groups stand to put military personnel, and all U.S. residents, in more danger.
McCoy and others also refuted Trump's claim they had been sent to protest by his chief rival, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
"That is unequivocally false," said U.S. army veteran Perry O'Brien. "We're not here because of Hillary Clinton. We're here because of Donald Trump."
Referring to Trump's earlier remarks about McCain, O'Brien said the presumptive Republican candidate still owes the senator, and veterans as a whole, an apology.
