Trump forgives his own loans to campaign - UPDATE 2: FEC still waiting

[Likely Voter]

One of the outstanding issues with Trump's fundraising was how he had structured the money he had contributed to his campaign as a loan. Some have suggested he could chose to pay himself back with contributions. So now that his campaign is actively fundraising, Trump has changed his plan and forgiven his own debt...

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http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/23/trump-forgives-50-million-in-loans-to-his-campaign-trump-finance-chief.html

The fact that he structured the money in the form of a loan in the first place makes me think he originally thought he would eventually be able to pay himself back (possibly after the election) through contributions and merchandising. However, now that he is doing real fundraising with big donors and bundlers, I suspect they were worried that money they put in could end up being used to pay his debt instead of on the campaign, so he had no choice but to remove that 'liability'.

[Nyvin]

The fact that they were classified as "loans" to begin with just shows his original plan was to bankroll the donations back into his private businesses which in turn shows he was really just using the entire presidential campaign as a PR stunt.   

What a complete fraud.

[Ebsy]

We'll see if this ends up being true when the next monthly comes out.

[Seriously?]

The fact that they were classified as "loans" to begin with just shows his original plan was to bankroll the donations back into his private businesses which in turn shows he was really just using the entire presidential campaign as a PR stunt.   

What a complete fraud.

Ummmm. no. Personal loans are one way where campaigns can get a head start ahead of fundraising. This is nothing new. Trump "forgiving" the campaign from the loans just shows that he is adhering to his promise to self-fund the primaries.

[cwt]

The fact that they were classified as "loans" to begin with just shows his original plan was to bankroll the donations back into his private businesses which in turn shows he was really just using the entire presidential campaign as a PR stunt.   

What a complete fraud.

Ummmm. no. Personal loans are one way where campaigns can get a head start ahead of fundraising. This is nothing new. Trump "forgiving" the campaign from the loans just shows that he is adhering to his promise to self-fund the primaries.

Why were they loans in the first place then? He could have just called them donations from the beginning.

[Seriously?]

The fact that they were classified as "loans" to begin with just shows his original plan was to bankroll the donations back into his private businesses which in turn shows he was really just using the entire presidential campaign as a PR stunt.   

What a complete fraud.

Ummmm. no. Personal loans are one way where campaigns can get a head start ahead of fundraising. This is nothing new. Trump "forgiving" the campaign from the loans just shows that he is adhering to his promise to self-fund the primaries.

Why were they loans in the first place then? He could have just called them donations from the beginning.

Because that's how it is generally done. I don't know the technical reason why, could be tax reasons, etc. I am sure someone on here can explain the exact reason.

[Likely Voter]

The only reason to define the money as loans was to give the option to pay back. Trump has made some actual direct contributions, to date around $400k was pure Trump donations to his campaign. Then there was about $17m in outside donations (mostly the website and merchandise) and then there were the $46m in loans from Trump. Yes Trump isn't the first to loan his campaign money, but usually those are one time things (either at the beginning of a campaign, or at the end when candidates get desperate). However, with Trump these loans were part of his regular funding. All year long, month after month, Trump would make small donations and big loans. There are no tax reasons for this, it was to give himself the option to get the money back.  

However now that he is soliciting money from big GOP donors he has had to convert the loans into contributions. Setting them up as loans in the first place was just one of those rookie mistakes that is now being corrected as his campaign gets professionalized.

[Likely Voter]

UPDATE: Trump still hasn't converted the loans

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http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/after-saying-he-forgave-loans-campaign-trump-won-t-release-n601596

[Tartarus Sauce]

UPDATE: Trump still hasn't converted the loans

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http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/after-saying-he-forgave-loans-campaign-trump-won-t-release-n601596

If the veteran's charity fiasco is any indication, he will drag his ass for as long as possible on this.

[Ljube]

The only reason to define the money as loans was to get everybody to talk about it.

Trump's understanding of political marketing is unparalleled. He easily dispatched the primary opposition and even though Crooked Hillary is going to be a much tougher nut, she will eventually crack under pressure.

[Likely Voter]

...and Trump still hasn't converted the loans into contributions

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[Devout Centrist]

...and Trump still hasn't converted the loans into contributions

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Wow this is what scammers do when they're in over their heads.