Trump’s Changing Trust, Annotated
A new document shows that President Trump can take money from his companies at any time through the eponymous trust that holds his businesses.
That’s one new detail about the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust included in an updated version of the trust’s certification document, the original of which was first obtained by ProPublica in January. A new version of that document was released by the federal government last week. The new document says that Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and longtime attorney Allen Weisselberg must “distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request” or whenever they deem fit.
The trust document also has some other notable changes. Here’s an annotated look. | Related Story: Trump Can Pull Money From His Businesses Whenever He Wants—Without Ever Telling Us »
The original trust certification from Jan. 26 made no mention of the president’s son, Eric. The February version lists him as the chairman of the trust’s advisory board, though not as a trustee.
The original version said the trust was for President Trump’s “exclusive benefit.” The new version removed the word “exclusive.”
Unless the bylaws of the individual companies owned by the trust are amended to prohibit distributions, this trust is set up to distribute income from its holdings at any time, a stipulation that was missing from the original document.
The document says that Donald Trump Jr. and Allen Weisselberg won't update President Trump on the businesses. However, Eric Trump, who isn’t a trustee, told Forbes he plans to tell the president about the trust’s “bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that.”
This updated version comes 15 days after the first certification obtained by ProPublica.
The original trust certification from Jan. 26 made no mention of the president’s son, Eric. The February version lists him as the chairman of the trust’s advisory board, though not as a trustee.
The original version said the trust was for President Trump’s “exclusive benefit.” The new version removed the word “exclusive.”
Unless the bylaws of the individual companies owned by the trust are amended to prohibit distributions, this trust is set up to distribute income from its holdings at any time, a stipulation that was missing from the original document.
The document says that Donald Trump Jr. and Allen Weisselberg won't update President Trump on the businesses. However, Eric Trump, who isn’t a trustee, told Forbes he plans to tell the president about the trust’s “bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that.”
This updated version comes 15 days after the first certification obtained by ProPublica.