Forbes : Trump's Business Raised $2.4 Billion During His Presidency

Forbes: Trump's Business Raised $2.4 Billion During His Presidency

According to Forbes, the epidemic reduced Trump's revenue by around $200 million last year.

President Trump donated his first-quarter salary to the National Park Service in April 2017, according to press secretary Sean Spicer, who stood at the podium in the White House briefing room. Spicer drew out a large cheque with a large signature while maintaining a serious expression. While in office, Donald Trump signed several checks, turning over his $400,000 salary in return for favorable press.

For Trump, that was practically nothing. His real income did not come from his government pay, but rather from the company he refused to sell. A review of documents, some of which were only made public recently, reveals how much money Trump's businesses made while he was president. Examine everything, including financial statements, debt paperwork, and property records, and you'll discover that the company earned around $2.4 billion between January 2017 and December 2020.

There might have been many more had it not been for the pandemic. During Trump's first three years in office, his company brought in around $650 million a year. But once Covid infected the company in 2020, revenues fell to an anticipated $450 million. Trump stated at a news conference held at the White House in March 2020 that the situation was affecting him, Hilton, and all major hotel chains worldwide. Everyone is being hurt by it. In fact, there aren't many successful firms right now. 

The biggest portion of Trump’s revenue flowed through his clubs and golf properties, which generated approximately $940 million over four years. Trump National Doral, the golf resort in Miami, contributed roughly $270 million to that total. Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club in Palm Beach, brought in about $90 million. A New Jersey golf club, where the former president has been spending time this summer, took in $60 million or so. Those top-line figures didn’t all end up in Trump’s pocket, however. Golf clubs and resorts are expensive to manage, with operating profit margins running at 20% in good times. During the pandemic, Trump’s traditional courses fared reasonably well, but his golf resorts had to contend with long shutdowns, causing his overall golf and club revenues to drop 27% to an estimated $190 million in 2020.

Trump was fortunate in that he also owned high-margin commercial real estate interests, which helped him increase his profits. This became especially important in 2020 since commercial tenants—many of whom were bound by lengthy leases—continued to make rent payments. An examination of documents revealed that Trump's rent at 555 California Street, a San Francisco office building in which he owns a 30% share, actually increased slightly in 2017 from $42 million to $43 million. The same thing occurred at 1290 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, where Trump's revenue rose from about $55 million to $58 million.

On the other side, the hotel, licensing, and management industries didn't fare as well. From 2017 through 2019, estimated revenues were considerably above $100 million, but by 2020, they were closer to $50 million. Given the debt owed by his hotels, no aspect of Trump's portfolio was more ill-prepared to sustain such a blow. From 2017 to 2019, revenue at his Washington, D.C., hotel stagnated at roughly $52 million. The hotel didn't appear to be making enough money before the epidemic to pay the interest on its $170 million loan from Deutsche Bank since the top line had stopped out. When Covid-19 struck and revenues fell to less than $20 million, things only got worse. It makes sense that the Trump Organization attempted to sell the property.

However, the former president had little success last year selling that hotel or other properties. Trump sold off real properties worth $32 million in 2017, $53 million in 2018, and then $32 million in 2019. But in 2020, he only made $435,000 from the sale of residences in Vegas. One factor in the income decline of around 25% to an anticipated $450 million was the lack of deals. It was a smaller amount, yes, but it was still more than 1,000 times the yearly wage he donated.