Trump's campaign paid $2.3 million in donor money to his private business, filings show

• President Donald Trump's campaign has paid $2.3 million in donor funds to his private businesses so far, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
• Forbes, which first reported on the filings, pointed to an instance in which one of Trump's companies received nearly $38,000 in campaign funds for rent.
• In another, the campaign shelled out $8,000 to the Trump Corp. last month for "legal & IT consulting," according to the filings.
• This isn't the first time the president's campaign has become entangled with his personal finances.
• In July, The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold reported that Trump's campaign sent nearly $400,000 to the Trump Organization in just two days.

President Donald Trump's private business has received $2.3 million in campaign funds so far, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.

Forbes, which first reported on the filings, said that in one instance, Trump Tower Commercial LLC, which owns the Trump Organization's building on Fifth Avenue, received nearly $38,000 in campaign-donor money to cover rent last month. In another instance, the Trump campaign shelled out $8,000 to the Trump Corp. last month for "legal & IT consulting," according to the FEC filings.

The Trump campaign also coordinated with the Republican National Committee to pay Trump Tower Commercial LLC another $225,000, Forbes said.

This isn't the first time the president's campaign has become entangled with his personal finances. In July, The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold reported that Trump's campaign sent nearly $400,000 to the Trump Organization in just two days.

Documents showed that the campaign channeled $380,000 to the president's personal business in 43 transactions, Fahrenthold said, adding that the Trump Organization told him the money was for a weeklong "donor retreat" at Mar-a-Lago in March.

Open Secrets, an arm of the Center for Responsive Politics that closely tracks money in politics, first spotted the payments in Federal Election Commission filings from the Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee between Trump and the Republican National Committee.

In February, The Post reported that the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service exorbitant rates to protect the president when he traveled to his properties. Receipts and documents showed that US taxpayers shelled out more than $471,000 to Trump's properties from January 2017 to April 2018, the report said.

Trump also frequently hosts foreign leaders at Mar-a-Lago, where they pay the market rate. After Trump became president, several countries with embassies in Washington, DC, began hosting parties and events at Trump properties in what ethics experts described as a bid to curry favor with the president.

The RNC has spent more than $2 million at Trump Organization hotels and resorts. And Trump's campaign, which is funded in part by donations from the president's supporters and big-dollar donors, has spent more than $14 million at his properties.

In September, Trump faced backlash when Politico reported that members of the US Air Force had stayed at Trump's five-star Turnberry resort in Scotland as part of an unusual layover on a routine trip from the US to Kuwait to deliver supplies.