Iran-Contra Scandal

• 1985: Trump contributed to the Nicaragua Refugee Fund. “The Nicaraguan Refugee Fund is throwing a reception and dinner in honor of President and Mrs. Reagan. Among well-known names on the invitation, in various capacities of sponsoring the dinner, are comedian Bob Hope, former billionaire but now mere multimillionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt, beer baron Joseph Coors, former football star Roger Staubach, New York real estate magnate Donald Trump, former Interior Secretary James Watt's favorite singer Wayne Newton and Continental Illinois Corp. Chairman John Swearingen. Tickets are a tax-deductible $250 for dinner and a cash bar or $500 for dinner and a private reception. What is the Nicaraguan Refugee Fund? According to the formal, printed invitation, it is ‘a nonprofit ... humanitarian effort established to supply Nicaraguan refugees now in Honduras and Costa Rica with much-needed medical supplies, food, tools and clothing.’ The date? Income tax day, April 15.” (Chicago Tribune, April 12, 1985)
  • The April 1985 fundraising dinner for the Nicaragua Refugee Fund was later the subject of Congressional inquiry during the Iran-Contra scandal. More to say on this later