--- title: Washington Post Analysis: Donald Trump is Not So Charitable description: An analysis of Donald Trump's charitable donations found that though the leading Republican presidential candidate claims he's a generous giver, most of his gifts came... canonical: https://time.com/4288354/donald-trump-is-not-as-charitable-as-he-claims-says-report/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T12:42:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:37:02.191Z article:section: Politics og:title: Washington Post Analysis: Donald Trump is Not So Charitable og:description: An analysis of Donald Trump's charitable donations found that though the leading Republican presidential candidate claims he's a generous giver, most of his gifts came... og:url: https://time.com/4288354/donald-trump-is-not-as-charitable-as-he-claims-says-report/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3398185e88e9c622/69888e7ba988caee216b7594/520268708.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: 520268708 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Washington Post Analysis: Donald Trump is Not So Charitable twitter:description: An analysis of Donald Trump's charitable donations found that though the leading Republican presidential candidate claims he's a generous giver, most of his gifts came... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3398185e88e9c622/69888e7ba988caee216b7594/520268708.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Is Not as Charitable as He Claims, Report Says > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 11, 2016 12:42 PM UTC  Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks before a capacity crowd at a rally for his campaign on April 10, 2016 in Rochester, New York. Brett Carlsen—2016 Getty Images Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks before a capacity crowd at a rally for his campaign on April 10, 2016 in Rochester, New York. Brett Carlsen—2016 Getty Images Brett Carlsen—2016 Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 11, 2016 12:42 PM UTC An analysis of [Donald Trump](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-portrait-of-trump-the-donor-free-rounds-of-golf-but-no-personal-cash/2016/04/10/373b9b92-fb40-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fno-name%5Ftrumpcharity-0905pm%5F1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory)‘s charitable donations found that though the leading Republican presidential candidate claims he’s a generous giver, most of his gifts came in the form of free rounds of golf. Trump has said he completed over 4,000 personal charitable transactions in the past five years, according to a list provided to the [Washington _Post_ ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-portrait-of-trump-the-donor-free-rounds-of-golf-but-no-personal-cash/2016/04/10/373b9b92-fb40-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fno-name%5Ftrumpcharity-0905pm%5F1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory)and the _Associated Press_. Out of those transactions, 2,900 are believed to be free rounds of golf, 175 are free hotel stays, 165 are meals, and 11 are spa certificates, according to a Post analysis. The freebies, however, only appear to account for about $6.4 million of the $102 million in personal funds Trump claims to have donated. The Post analysis found that some of the most expensive transactions Trump claimed were legal land agreements in which the real estate mogul agreed to not engage in certain types of development. But although in one case he built housing on the agreed upon land, it was turned into a driving range and Trump continued making money off of the property. Trump also claims to have given $7 million through his foundation, but according to an analysis of the Donald J. Trump Foundation’s public filings the largest donors to the foundation were not Trump. The findings fly in the face of claims the presidential candidate has made about his givings. \[[Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-portrait-of-trump-the-donor-free-rounds-of-golf-but-no-personal-cash/2016/04/10/373b9b92-fb40-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fno-name%5Ftrumpcharity-0905pm%5F1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288354/donald-trump-is-not-as-charitable-as-he-claims-says-report/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288354/donald-trump-is-not-as-charitable-as-he-claims-says-report/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Is Not as Charitable as He Claims, Report Says","datePublished":"2016-04-11T12:42:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:37:02.191Z","description":"An analysis of Donald Trump's charitable donations found that though the leading Republican presidential candidate claims he's a generous giver, most of his gifts came...","url":"https://time.com/4288354/donald-trump-is-not-as-charitable-as-he-claims-says-report/","keywords":["republicans","2016 presidential election","presidential election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3398185e88e9c622/69888e7ba988caee216b7594/520268708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3398185e88e9c622/69888e7ba988caee216b7594/520268708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"520268708","caption":"ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks before a capacity crowd at a rally for his campaign on April 10, 2016 in Rochester, New York. 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