Before his hasty exit as World Wrestling Entertainment’s CEO last month, former franchise heavyweight Vince McMahon made contributions totaling $5 million to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, according to The Wall Street Journal. A “substantially complete” probe by WWE’s board into its one-time chief has concluded that the donations to Trump’s now-shuttered charity were given in chunks of $4 million and $1 million in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Coincidentally, these gifts corresponded with Trump’s two appearances at WWE events—in 2007, at WrestleMania 23, where he infamously shaved McMahon’s head during the “Battle of the Billionaires,” and in 2009, when he went on WWE Raw. A person who reviewed Trump’s WrestleMania contract told the Journal that Trump had directed McMahon to give his foundation the $4 million, which represented 98 percent of all contributions the charity received that year. The Trump Foundation was dissolved in 2018, as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general’s office.
