Another day, another shady story involving former President Donald Trump.
This time it comes courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, which reported Wednesday that WWE’s board uncovered that Vince McMahon gave $5 million to Trump’s charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, in 2007 and 2009, without reporting it as a company expense.
The payments coincide with Trump’s appearances on WWE television programs and events, including 2007’s WrestleMania 23 and WWE’s Monday night show “Raw,” in 2009.
The money was part of a staggering $19.6 million in unrecorded company expenses that McMahon should have reported since they benefitted the company he was in charge of. McMahon stepped down as chairman and CEO of WWE last month.
Trump’s infamous 2007 appearance was known as the “Battle of the Billionaires” and, according to a person who has seen Trump’s contract for the event, it stipulated that $4 million be sent to the charity as an appearance fee. There was also a very humourous mention that “Mr. Trump had his associates review the contract to ensure that under no circumstances would Mr. McMahon be allowed to shave his head, even if Mr. Trump’s wrestler dropped dead in the ring.”
After the event, WWE reportedly added another $1 million to the charity payment, though there were conflicting opinions offered on whether or not that was a “bonus” or if that was simply a choice made by McMahon.
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was dissolved in 2018 as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general’s office, which alleged that Trump misused charity funds on his 2016 presidential campaign, legal settlements, and promotion of his private businesses. Trump admitted to misusing nonprofit funds and was ordered to pay $2 million to charities as part of the 2019 settlement.
The news that Trump was involved in Vince McMahon’s off-the-books schemes while chairman of WWE certainly seemed to garner some strong reactions from the sports world.
The best part of the WSJ story on the McMahon-Trump payments:
"Mr. Trump had his associates review the contract to ensure that under no circumstances would Mr. McMahon be allowed to shave his head, even if Mr. Trump’s wrestler dropped dead in the ring." https://t.co/c4uJL3ZPWI
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) August 17, 2022
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If Austin and Lashley had of gone rogue and shaved Trump’s head anyway, we would be in a very different timeline. https://t.co/eLEPzUWw3b
— Kent Driscoll (@KentDriscoll) August 18, 2022
McMahon and Trump taking eachother down is quite the plot twist https://t.co/IsjyTMEHmq
— Mike Payton (@POD_Payton) August 17, 2022
It's worth stressing that the idea of donating to the Trump Foundation in lieu of or in addition to appearance fees his WWE appearances would have been completely non-controversial before 2012 or thereabouts, and not viewed as inherently sketchy until 2016. Why cover it up?
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) August 18, 2022
C'mon now, this is even less surprising than Vinnie Mac paying off women he had affairs with… https://t.co/l9oJezwM3u
— Will Mahoney (@HeelWillMahoney) August 17, 2022
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOÒOOOOOOÒOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOÒOÒOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO https://t.co/HIvcl6i1qP
— Ivan Bologna Is All Elite (@PV_GIA) August 17, 2022
[WSJ]