Claim:
In September 2024, former President Donald Trump donated $25 million of his own money to victims of Hurricane Helene.
Rating:
Unfounded ( About this rating? )
In the wake of Hurricane Helene's landfall in Florida in late September 2024, supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump claimed on multiple platforms that the former president donated $25 million of his own money to hurricane relief efforts.
Some social media users were skeptical, however. " How do you know he gave 25 million, " a top comment read. " I can't find it anywhere that I trust. "
It's unclear where exactly this rumor originated, but we found no evidence it was accurate. None of the dozens of posts making this claim provided proof to back it up.
Neither the Trump campaign nor Trump himself made an announcement about such a donation, rumors of which began spreading Sept. 29, 2024 . We reached out to the Trump campaign and will update this story if we receive a response.
Some social media users combined the rumor that Trump personally donated $25 million with the claim that he set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for hurricane relief.
The Trump presidential campaign indeed organized a "Trump Authorized" fundraiser to support Hurricane Helene victims. As of this writing, the GoFundMe had raised more than $7.7 million, but Trump's name was not listed under the donors. The highest amount donated and viewable to the public was $500,000.
(GoFundMe)
Because we did not find any evidence of Trump personally donating $25 million to Hurricane Helene, we found this claim to be unfounded. Other outlets, including LeadStories and MSN , rated this claim false.
Sources:
Coster, Helen. 'Trump Seeks to Boost Presidential Bid in Hurricane Helene's Wake, Analysts Say'. Reuters , 2 Oct. 2024. www.reuters.com , https://www.reuters.com/world/us/wake-hurricane-trump-seeks-boost-his-presidential-bid-2024-10-01/.
'Donate to Support Hurricane Helene Victims - Trump Authorized, Organised by Meredith ORourke'. Gofundme.Com , https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-hurricane-helene-victims-with-president-trump . Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
Fact Check: NO Evidence Trump 'Donated $25 Million' To Hurricane Helene Victims | Lead Stories . 1 Oct. 2024, https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2024/10/fact-check-no-evidence-trump-donated-25-million-dollars-to-hurricane-helene-victims.html.
MSN . https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-did-donald-trump-donate-25-million-dollars-to-hurricane-victims/ar-AA1rPSki . Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
Threads . https://www.threads.net/@robertaolsenii/post/DAhvuXPN_oK . Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
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