Donald Trump believes money can buy vets’ love

For someone who claims he can change the world overnight – stop wars, illegal immigration, Muslims and trade deals – Donald Trump has been as slow as sludge in accounting for the money he bragged about raising for veterans in January.

Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, admitted on May 20 that he didn’t have an “exact number” of what was taken in, nor could he say what veterans’ groups would be getting what.

Last week, Trump finally released a $1 million personal donation he had pledged four months ago, at a fundraiser in Des Moines organized as counterprogramming to a debate of Republican candidates co-moderated by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly that he had decided to boycott in a fit of pique.

As for the remaining $5 million or so Trump has claimed to have raised, he tried to put that matter to rest at a news conference and public accounting at Trump Tower in New York City on Tuesday. He said the biggest chunk of what is so far $5.6 million raised was his pledge of $1 million for the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a group that hon- ored him last year. He listed the other beneficiaries one by one. The delays and inconsistencies that he said had been unfairly chronicled by the press occurred because he “didn’t want credit” for his generosity.

This could have been a win, but Trump can’t stop even when he’s ahead. He spent the next half-hour calling out his perceived enemies: An ABC reporter was a “sleaze.” Others were “disgusting” for asking him to clarify his conflicting claims about the money raised. He sought to justify earlier attacks on fellow Republicans such as Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, saying she’d been “not nice” to him so he’d taken a “jab” at her. And he took after Mitt Romney as a “fool” and a “choker” who walks like a penguin.

The money to veterans is important. Trump believes money can buy love, and he’s made getting love from veterans a cornerstone of his campaign. He’s not a natural given that he escaped the draft and even insulted the war record of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a bona fide war hero. When Trump had his chance to fight in Vietnam in 1968, he instead got multiple student deferments and, when those ran out, a medical one for bone spurs.

That didn’t stop him from using the war as a metaphor of his life. In a 1997 interview with Howard Stern, he likened avoiding sexually transmitted diseases to his “personal Vietnam.” Fighting off gonorrhea and the like made him “feel like a great and very brave soldier.”

Those who believe Trump is stable enough to be president should watch the Tuesday news conference.

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Donald Trump believes money can buy vets’ love."