When Melania Trump Bid $20,000 on a Portrait of Donald Trump Because She Had 'No Choice'

Once Melania Trump found herself in a peculiar position at a charity event held in Mar-a-Lago, her husband's lavish Florida estate. The occasion featured a "speed painter" named Michael Israel, renowned for crafting massive portraits in under seven minutes. Naturally, his subject that evening was none other than Donald Trump himself. 

The massive Donald portrait was up for buying, with the former president's wife Melania starting the bidding at $10,000. When no one else increased their bid, the auctioneer urged her to do so, saying her presence had turned off prospective buyers. Melania agreed and went for an impressive $20,000 for her husband's speedily pain2ted portrait. But neither Melania nor Donald paid the twenty thousand dollars amount. According to The Washington Post, the Trump Foundation did. Melania had no choice but to take part in the auction based on the bidding report. If not, the absence of bids would have humiliated Donald, and we all know that he does not take humiliation well, as per Quartz.

The Washington Post Reporter David A. Fahrenthold later disclosed that the Donald J. Trump Foundation had paid $20,000 for a six-foot-tall painting of the president and another $12,000 for a signed football helmet by Tim Tebow. These purchases may have violated federal tax law if they were not made for charitable purposes. Particularly, the portrait sparked some discussion, some raised eyebrows, and former President Barack Obama included it in his appeal for Hillary Clinton. The Washington Post provided an update on the image, detailing who painted it, who paid $20,000 for it, and possibly even its current location. Fahrenthold says he believes the painting is still at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where Melania gave Israel assistant Jody Young instructions to send it.

Ultimately, the painting cost $10,000, with the charity and Israel receiving $10,000 each from the Trump Foundation (tax records show that 2007 was the last year Donald contributed any personal funds to the foundation). Though auctioneer David Schall told The Post that an Israel portrait of Warren Buffett sold for more than $100,000, "it really wasn't a lot," that is a tidy sum for art and charitable giving. The donation from the Trump Foundation throws everything into disarray.

Nonetheless, Trump had the option of buying the portrait with his own money. When the cost of the portrait is subtracted from the $35,000 that Donald donated to his charity in 2007, it becomes apparent that he only gave $15,000 that year. The Trump charity distributed the remaining cash obtained by his charity from other charitable organizations. This kind of charity was quite similar to Donald's business strategy, which involved borrowing money from others to fund his projects. It was comparable to how he funded a large portion of his presidential campaign.