The dramatic messages that Trump sent out during his campaign were crafted by Jamestown Associates for $8.8 million. His favorite hotel on the campaign trail seems to have been Marriott Hotels, where he spent $216,692, with nightly room rates at over $100; though if he had spent only $100 nightly for a year his total hotel expenses for a year would have been $36,500. The press has been running stories regarding Trump’s excessive spending of campaign funds on his own businesses, so I added up all of the items that started with Trump and these came up to $4.1 million, including costs of travel expenses for his relatives, payroll for himself, and payments for his own hotels, restaurants (one meal cost $174) and the like. Oddly enough, Trump billed for lodging in New York on 10/17 and 10/25 and might have stayed in Las Vegas at the Trump International Hotel for the 8 days in between, piling up $16,142 in charges at over $2,000 per night. Imagine if universities allowed for this type of billing during conference travel. There is an incredible level of detail in this filing, and curious parties can dig up thousands of suspect transactions.
Figure 4: Campaign Expenditures: Trump International Hotel