A new report has appeared to confirm that Vince McMahon made multiple unrecorded payments to the now defunct Donald J. Trump Foundation.
While Vince McMahon may have retired from WWE on July 22nd, the controversy surrounding the now former Chairman shows no sign of going away.
The latest report from the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that McMahon paid a total of $5 million to Donald Trump’s charity in 2007 and 2009. The payments were part of the $19.6 million in unrecorded expenses previously uncovered by WWE.
In a securities filing, WWE confirmed that the near $20 million should have been disclosed by McMahon as the payments benefited the company he ran.
People close to the investigation being undertaken by WWE’s Board, said that the $5 million represented charitable donations to the now-dissolved Donald J. Trump Foundation. The payments were made in the same years that Trump appeared on WWE television.
The report from the Journal states:
“An attorney for WWE said the payments to Mr. Trump should have been booked as business expenses because Mr. McMahon was a principal shareholder and the payments benefited the company. He declined to say why the payments benefited WWE.”
In 2007, Donald Trump appeared at WrestleMania 23 in the ‘Battle of the Billionaires,’ while in 2009 he ‘assumed control’ of Monday Night Raw before selling the brand back to Vince McMahon.
The ‘Battle of the Billionaires’ saw Umaga and Bobby Lashley wrestle on the behalf of McMahon and Trump respectively. Whoever lost would have their head shaved, as it transpired this was McMahon, as Lashley claimed the win.
According to tax returns from the Trump Foundation a payment of $4 million was made in 2007, with a further $1 million paid in 2009.
A person who reviewed Trump’s contract for his WrestleMania appearance noted that the former US President directed McMahon to send a $4 million appearance fee to his charity. Incredibly, the contract also reportedly prevented Trump from having his head shaved under any circumstances, including if his representative (Bobby Lashley) dropped dead in the ring.
After the event, Trump reportedly boasted that he had been given a bonus worth $1 million due to the success of the event. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt didn’t dispute that the payments had been made, but did challenge that the $1 million was a bonus.
“Mr. Trump and WWE entered into a contract whereby WWE agreed to and did pay him personally an appearance fee of $1 million,” Jerry McDevitt, the attorney, said in an email. “At the same time, the McMahons made a personal contribution to the Trump Foundation of $4 million. There was no additional fee paid to Mr. Trump, or any additional contribution to the Trump Foundation, due to the success of the event.”
For his appearance on Monday Night Raw in 2009, Trump was paid an appearance fee of $100,000. It is noted by McDevitt that “at the same time” Vince McMahon and his wife Linda, made a $1 million donation to Trumps Foundation.
Prior to McMahon’s retirement he had come under fire following a series of a serious allegations of sexual misconduct. The allegations include claims that McMahon made numerous payments of millions of dollars to former employees with whom he had sexual relationships. It has also been alleged that McMahon coerced one former wrestler into performing oral sex on him, before later “buying” her silence.
WWE recently revealed that the investigation into Vince McMahon is “largely complete.”