News

Did Trump Fundraise in Email About Death of Ex-Wife Ivana?

NBC News journalist Andrea Mitchell tweeted that an email statement from the former president about the death of his ex-wife Ivana was being used for fundraising.

Published July 14, 2022

CASPER, WY - MAY 28: Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on May 28, 2022 in Casper, Wyoming. The rally is being held to support Harriet Hageman, Rep. Liz Cheney’s primary challenger in Wyoming. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images) (Chet Strange/Getty Images)
Image Via Chet Strange/Getty Images

Following the death of former U.S. President Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana on July 14, 2022, a screenshot of an email message from Trump was widely shared on Twitter. The email appeared to have a "Donate to Save America" button under Trump's statement about her passing.

The screenshot of the email received a surge of shares after NBC News journalist Andrea Mitchell tweeted the image with the comment, "Fundraising off this."

Former federal prosecutor Ron Filipowski tweeted another screenshot of the email, that showed it came from Save America PAC.

The New York Times previously reported that Save America PAC is a "leadership political action committee" that was formed by Trump in 2020. It was described by Times journalist Maggie Haberman as "a federal fund-raising vehicle that will potentially let [Trump] retain his hold on the Republican Party even after he leaves office."

The statement in the email about Ivana's death came from Trump's Truth Social account. No such donation or fundraising button appeared in the Truth Social post.

It's unclear if the donate button for fundraising was part of a standard footer that is regularly placed at the bottom of such emails. We reached out to the PAC for more information and will update this story if we receive a response.

Sources

Colvin, Jill, and Jennifer Peltz. “Ivana Trump, First Wife of Former President, Dies at 73.” Snopes.com via The Associated Press, 14 July 2022, https://www.snopes.com/ap/2022/07/14/ivana-trump-first-wife-of-former-president-dies-at-73/.

Filipowski, Ron. Twitter, 14 July 2022, https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1547700172146110469.

Haberman, Maggie. “Trump Forms PAC in Hopes of Keeping Hold on G.O.P.” The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2020. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/politics/trump-pac.html.

Mitchell, Andrea. Twitter, 14 July 2022, https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/status/1547677629066530818.

Trump, Donald. Truth Social, 14 July 2022, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/108647350940945943.

Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.