A super PAC that supported former President Donald Trump and has since closed made a payment of $155,000 to former first lady Melania Trump in 2021, according to a recent expenditure filing.
The New York Times first reported the filing, which revealed that Make America Great Again, Again made the payment in December 2021 for a speaking engagement. The payment coincided with a fundraising event held by the former president at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Times also noted that the initial federal filings of the group did not disclose that the payment was for the former first lady. Instead, it was listed as expenses associated with “Designer’s Management Agency,” which includes Melania Trump as a client.
There has been no response from the Trump campaign regarding this payment to the former president’s wife, who has mostly stayed out of public view since Trump announced his 2024 election bid in November.
Make America Great Again, Again was initially established as the main super PAC aligned with the former president after he left office. The group disbanded in 2022 and transferred almost $10 million to Make America Great Again Inc., which is now the primary super PAC affiliated with Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Previously, Save America, a political committee formed after the 2020 election, paid Melania Trump’s stylist thousands of dollars in 2022. This committee was created to receive contributions from supporters who believed in Trump’s claims of election fraud, but these claims were rejected by the courts.
Questions about the ethics of Trump and whether his family gained financially from his time in office or his political activities have persisted for years. While he was president, Trump frequently visited properties owned by his company, and he and other GOP candidates have often held fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster properties in recent years.