Donald Trump Might Have Pocketed $127,000 From Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Report Says
A Friday report from The New York Times explored hidden financial records that shed light on seemingly curious aspects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s charitable work. One of the findings suggested that the president might have pocketed approximately $127,000 from former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
“In 2009, for example, he agreed to rent his Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, N.Y., to the Libyan dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who hoped to stay in a tent on the grounds during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly,” the piece read.
The plans eventually fell apart due to objections from local residents, but not before Gaddafi made a $150,000 payment that Trump claimed on CNN in 2011 was donated to charity.
“His 2009 tax returns, however, reported only $22,796 in business and personal cash gifts,” the report noted, which would mean the president might have kept the remaining $127,204.
According to the findings, many of Trump’s charitable tax deductions — a total of $119.3 million — were not from his own pocket but through agreements not to develop land. In some cases, the publication said, the deals came after the president had already decided against the development plans in question.
The finding is not the first to tie Trump to Gaddafi. The Guardian also reported on the 2009 deal and claimed that the real estate mogul rented a part of a Westchester county to tenants who might have been linked to the former Libyan leader. Notably, Gaddafi pitched his own tent on the Seven Springs estate after many New Yorkers refused to house him. According to the report, local officials tried to stop Gaddafi as his workers erected his temporary lodging, as it was allegedly illegal to do so without a permit.
“When it looked like Gaddafi might have to stay at a youth hostel, Trump stepped in to offer his Westchester palace,” Al Jazeera reported.
“When the local community reacted badly, Trump collected his fee and then refused to let Gaddafi pitch his tent.”
According to the publication, Trump’s purported affinity for dictators has become a problem for him. In particular, the publication noted the friendship between Trump and Gaddafi, whom the head of state had allegedly tried to court for years before his presidential stint as part of a push for a Trump mega-resort on Libya’s Mediterranean coast. In addition, Trump allegedly wanted to make a deal with Libya’s sovereign wealth fund.
Per The Inquisitr, Trump found himself in hot water when he claimed that Barack Obama was responsible for Gaddafi’s death, which happened at the hands of protestors during the Arab Spring in 2011. The claim came as the former U.S. leader was facing criticism for his order to kill Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani.
