Trump Demands Millions From Pro MAGA Think Tank He Says Is Getting Rich Off His Name

Donald Trump is demanding that a pro-MAGA think tank called The America First Policy Institute give him some of the millions of dollars that they have raised because they are using his name and branding to make themselves rich, as Trump says. The only problem with Trump's demand is that it is completely illegal for him to take any money from this kind of PAC, and if they follow through with it then both sides could be in serious legal trouble. Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

Listen to our videos in an audio format by subscribing to our podcast

Don't forget to like, comment, and share! And subscribe to stay connected!

Connect with Farron on Twitter

*This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos.

According to a new report this week, Donald Trump is furious with a group called the America First Policy Institute, which is a pro-Trump pro maga think tank. It's pretty much a political action committee, but hey, because of the rules, you can call anything, whatever you want these days, political action committees can be think tanks. So it is what it is. But we all know America first, right? That's Donald Trump's slogan. And he believes that this group that is run and founded by one of his, uh, former White House aides, he thinks they owe him money. Donald Trump, according to this report, has been fuming saying, it's my effing money. That is a direct quote, from the people close to Trump, because they're using his name, they're using his slogan. They're, they're raking in millions of dollars. They're getting rich Trump says off his name, and by God he wants his cut because, you know, he just wants more money.

Now, here's the problem that Donald Trump has. This group is registered as a, uh, nonprofit, uh, and due to the rules regulating political action committees and nonprofits and 5 0 1 c threes and 5 0 1 c fours and all of that, you know, technical mumbo jumbo, um, they are legally barred from giving money to any candidate running for any office, anywhere in the country. They also cannot support any candidate in any other way. So Donald Trump demanding that this group pay him millions of dollars if they comply. You know, if Donald Trump says, I'm gonna sue you for, for using my name to raise money, and they say, okay, well, don't sue us, we'll give you the money if they make that transaction, that's illegal.

So as long as the group does not pay Donald Trump, nobody's breaking any rules. And Trump, by the way, legally cannot do anything. Now, if he wanted to get money from this group for using his name or using his likeness without his permission, that's certainly actionable. But in order for him to take action and recover anything from this group, he would have to not be a candidate for office. So he would have to drop out of the presidential race in order to sue them to get the money, because if they just cut 'em a check right off the bat, boom, suddenly both of y'all looking at criminal charges against you. So this group really has Donald Trump by the short hairs, there is nothing he can do to force them to pay him this money. And the funny thing is, this group supports him. It's not like they're out there raising money off your name, your

Slogans, or your likeness, and then using it to make sure you lose, like they're supporting you. It's a policy institute, like they're crafting policy for you to use if you get back into the White House. But you don't care about that because it's never, never been about policy. It's never been about, I need to make this country better. It's all about the money. It's always about the money with this guy. And that's what this fight is about. But this is a fight that Donald Trump cannot win unless he gives up everything. So if he's willing to drop out of the presidential race to get his hands on a few million dollars, be my guest. Hey, as you said, it's your money, right? They're using your name, your slogans, everything about you to raise this money, but you know what you gotta do in order to get your hands on it. So go ahead and make your choice. And when you do make that choice, 'cause we all know what you're gonna do, maybe just shut your mouth and accept the fact that yeah, they're raising millions, but they still technically support you, so you are still going to benefit from it.