Donald Trump's inaugural committee has failed to deliver promised charity money

The President raised an unprecedented $107m for his inauguration ceremony seven months ago

Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, dance at the Freedom Ball on 20 January 2017 (Getty)

President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $107m for his inauguration ceremony, and promised to give leftover funds to charity. They haven’t.

Seven months after the event, Mr Trump’s private Presidential Inaugural Committee has yet to donate any of its historic fundraising take to charity, according to the Associated Press.

Tom Barrack, chairman of the private Presidential Inaugural Committee, said in a statement that the donations would come at the end of November, when the committee publicly disclosed its financial details.

Leaders of previous inaugurations, however, told the AP that they started giving money away within three months of Inauguration Day.

“The thing about inaugural expenses, they’re not complicated,” said Steve Kerrigan, head of President Barack Obama’s 2013 inaugural committee. “You take money in, you pay it out, and then you know what you’re left with when it’s done.”

Mr Trump’s inauguration ceremonies came under scrutiny last year, when it was revealed that he would not be capping the size of individual donations. Mr Obama and President George W Bush both limited the size of individual and corporate donations.

Mr Trump capped his corporate donations at $1m, and did not limit individual donations. He received as much as $5m from a single donor. His total haul was nearly twice that of Mr Obama’s in 2009.

To assuage concerns about the fundraising take, the administration promised to host a modest event and donate extra funds to charity. But so far, no money has gone to charity. It has, however, gone toward renovating the White House and Naval Observatory, according to a spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump.

According to vendors, donors and Trump associates interviewed by the AP, the administration lost control of the inaugural budget due to a lack of experience and an inordinate focus on optics.

Trump associates and people in the events industry said the committee got a late start, guaranteeing the work would be rushed and costly. The committee also failed to hire employees with past inauguration planning experience.

Finally, the committee focused too much on ensuring TV quality production – even for events that would not be televised. One person who worked on the inauguration said broadcasting costs were “what threw the budgets out the window”.

In a statement to the AP, Mr Barrack claimed the committee's eventual donations to charity would “surely will exceed any previous inauguration”.

The President’s historic fundraising take, he said, was "a tribute to the generosity of the American people and their excitement to ‘make America great again’.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.