At the upcoming Republican National Convention, presidential candidate Donald Trump (still can’t believe I’m typing out that sentence) apparently wants to have some aging sports stars speak on his behalf, such as Mike Tyson and Mike Ditka. But Trump’s connection to sports are deeper than that, even beyond his tumultuous time as a USFL owner. Now, Trump might be in some hot water for Tim Tebow memorabilia he tried to procure.
In 2012, Trump got into a bidding war for an autographed Tim Tebow jersey and football and ended up playing $12,000 for the both of them. Instead of paying from his personal coffers, he paid from his charity’s account, which as the Washington Post notes is a violation of US Tax Laws. Tax laws are confusing and make little sense, but the gist of this whole episode is that charities may not use donated money for the “furnishing of goods” (technically Tim Tebow memorabilia falls under that guideline) for its own executives. Of course, Trump is an executive for his charity.
This violation, if it was made, was not disclosed on the company’s 2012 tax returns. However, if Trump later used this memorabilia for anything other than his own personal collection, then he’s off the hook.
The Post hilariously notes that the night Trump bought these Tebow goods was the night his Broncos got slammed by the Patriots in the 2012 Divisional Round Game, so theoretically he could take a deduction on his purchase because the jersey and football may have dropped in value because of the result (which is a nice theory, but is a stretch).
As is typical with Presidential election season, there are going to be stories like this which ultimately mean very little overall, but a Donald Trump-Tim Tebow story is always going to raise eyebrows. Probably doesn’t help when coupled with the report that Trump barely gives to charities at all.
