Donald Trump to give $5m to charity if Obama releases records

USPA News - Real estate mogul and television personality Donald Trump on Wednesday offered to give $5 million to charity if President Barack Obama releases his college and passport records by the end of this month. Obama laughed off the offer during an interview later in the day.

Trump, who is the CEO of The Trump Organization which owns Miss Universe and similar franchises, has been one of the most outspoken supporters of the so-called birther movement that claims Obama was born in Kenya and is therefore ineligible to be president of the United States. Obama later released his long form birth certificate which shows he was born in Hawaii. "President Obama is the least transparent president in the history of this country. There`s never been anything like it. We know very little about our president," Trump said in a video posted on his YouTube page. "I am very honored to have gotten him to release his long form birth certificate, or whatever it may be. Now, many, many people have questions, and very serious questions." Trump did not say in the video what he hopes Obama`s college and passports records might reveal, but a transcript released by his office included remarks which were apparently cut out from the final version of the video. In the remarks, Trump said he had been contacted by "millions of people" who sought his help to settle the "extremely important issue" of knowing more about the president`s life. "I have a deal for the president. A deal that I don`t believe he can refuse, and I hope he doesn`t," Trump continued in his video. "If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice, Inner City Children in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research -- anything he wants -- a check, immediately, for five million dollars." Trump said he would write the check within one hour of the release, but said it needs to take place by October 31 at 5 p.m. "If he releases these records it will end the question, and indeed the anger, of many Americans," he said. "They`ll know something about their president. Their president will become transparent like other presidents." Several hours later, during an appearance on NBC`s The Tonight Show, Obama laughed off the offer when asked about it by television host Jay Leno. "This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya," he joked. "We had constant run-ins on the soccer field. He wasn`t very good and resented it. When we finally moved to America I thought it would be over." Trump made headlines last year when he said he was considering to run for president himself, but he later decided not to do so amid polls in which a majority indicated they would not vote for him. It followed similar statements in 1988 and 1999 when he also said he would consider to run for the White House, but in both cases he declined to do so at the last moment.