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The 2016 Race

Putting Donald Trump’s $1 Million for Veterans in Context

The donation Donald Trump made to veterans’ charities is small compared with those of some fellow billionaires. Then again, veterans charities don’t appear to be a big cause for billionaires.

At a fiery news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he had made good on a January promise to raise millions of dollars for veterans groups. He produced a photocopy of a check to show that he had personally given $1 million and said he had helped raise $4.6 million more. “Instead of being like, ‘Thank you very much, Mr. Trump’ or ‘Trump did a good job,’ everyone’s saying, ‘Who got it, who got it, who got it?’ ” Mr. Trump said.

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Donald Trump at a fiery news conference on Tuesday.Credit...Damon Winter/The New York Times

Though his personal check, dated May 24, was not drafted until after The Washington Post made inquiries, the donation is likely to be welcome to an area of charity that has not gotten much attention from the superwealthy. Stacy Palmer, the editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, said she could not find many sizable donations to veterans charities. “Veteran groups are not a cause that has commanded a lot of donations from very rich people,” she said.

But within his cohort of billionaires who have contributed, Mr. Trump does not appear to be giving that much.

In April, for instance, Steven A. Cohen pledged $275 million to set up and run mental health clinics for veterans and their families. Mr. Cohen, whose hedge fund closed after insider trading violations but who still invests his own money, is also donating $30 million to fund research into brain disorders suffered by veterans. “Two hundred and seventy-five million is a lot for any charity,” Ms. Palmer said.

According to Forbes magazine, Mr. Cohen’s fortune totals $12.7 billion, far more than the $4.5 billion that Forbes estimates for Mr. Trump. But Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, whose wealth Forbes estimates at $2.9 billion, also appears to be significantly outgiving Mr. Trump when it comes to veterans. In 2014, Mr. Schultz announced that he was donating $30 million to fund special job-training programs for veterans and other types of assistance. Also in 2014, Conrad Prebys, a real estate developer, pledged $20 million to San Diego State University in a gift focused on scholarships for veterans.

It is possible that Mr. Trump has given a lot more to veterans and hasn’t disclosed those donations. He has said that he has given over $100 million to charity in the past five years. But The Washington Post reported in April that a list detailing Mr. Trump’s giving over that period did not contain any personal gifts with his own money. (A spokesman for Mr. Trump told The Post that the list did not include all of Mr. Trump’s gifts.) Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

As it stands, then, Mr. Trump’s $1 million gift to veterans not only came later than some expected, but it is also small for the plutocrat class.

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