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(5,803 posts)That does not surprise me in the least.
fierywoman
(7,685 posts)Skittles
(153,169 posts)just sayin'
madaboutharry
(40,212 posts)Last edited Mon Oct 23, 2017, 11:20 PM - Edit history (1)
"...my legal counsel has been able to finally approve...'
This is a lie. He made this up as an excuse for months going by without having sent the check. Trump can never take responsibility for anything, there always has to be a way to lay blame elsewhere. It is incredible.
What a pathetic excuse for a man.
Docreed2003
(16,862 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,732 posts)It's unusual, to say the least, for a president to personally pay a relative of a soldier killed in action. Survivors' benefits are paid to whoever the soldier listed as his beneficiary; in this case the soldier named his mother. Trump spoke to the father in one of his fake condolence calls, and the father complained that he wasn't getting any survivor benefits, so Trump blurted out that he'd send him $25K himself (doubtless not meaning a word of it). But the guy never got a check and mentioned it to the media, which put Trump on the spot. It's not illegal, per se, for him to give money to whomever he wants (although he hardly ever gives money to anyone), but it's a strange precedent and raises the question of what might happen if some other soldiers' survivors don't get the military survivors' benefits because they weren't named beneficiaries, and try to get Trump to pay them, too?
Of course, he made a gratuitous promise and was under no legal obligation to follow through on it, but once it became public he saw it would look bad if he didn't pay. $25K is probably what they find under the couch cushions at Merde-a-Loco, but "looking bad" is Trump's Kryptonite.
world wide wally
(21,744 posts)He can barely force it out.
struggle4progress
(118,293 posts)Lawyer: "Nothing comes to mind"
Don: "Now I finally have my lawyer's permission!"
safeinOhio
(32,688 posts)On top of that he will owe about 2K in gift taxes.
onenote
(42,714 posts)If the check was on a joint account, it could be considered a gift from both Trump and his wife, each of whom can make a gift of $14,000 without triggering the gift tax.
In addition, even if the gift was deemed to be solely from Trump and thus $12K over the current annual limit, whether it was taxable would depend on whether Trump has exceeded the lifetime exemption.
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Then I thought I dont know what the payouts to fallen soldiers are. For the living, they can actually be pretty good, especially for the veterans that arent combat veterans. (No disrespect intended. My foster son has seen more than any man should have in Afghanistan. One of my grandfathers stormed Normandy Beach; the other was base librarian about ten miles from where he lived; theres a difference is all Im saying).
And then I thought: I hope they give all 25 grand to whatever charity President Dipshit would be most opposed to, and I hope regular folk like us make up the difference.
So, DU, two questions:
What charity should Trumps political-blood money go to? and
How can I give my own hard-earned cash to this family?
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)The son listed his mother as beneficiary. That's the reason Trump gave him money.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,862 posts)letter and the check are real?
Considering that Trump never follows through on any promises of donating money, I'm not at all willing to buy this.
marybourg
(12,633 posts)rather than "gift", which would be the correct description. The greedy f*ck is going to try to deduct it from his taxes, which would be unlawful, since the recipient is not a charity.
The empressof all
(29,098 posts)Whats the story with Trump paying this family? Im sure they arent the only folks who are having money troubles made worse by a death of a loved one killed in action. It seems weird to me. What am I missing