Resurfaced bombshell! Arsenal owner's $1m Trump donation back in spotlight
An old story has found new fire: Stan Kroenke's seven-figure donation to Donald Trump's inauguration fund is back in the headlines.
Details: The Independent report, recirculating this week, recalls that the Arsenal owner put $1 million into Trump's first inauguration fund, with Manchester United director Joel Glazer and Fulham owner Shahid Khan also contributing at the time. Kroenke, a known Republican donor, had earlier given $100,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund during the same 2016 race.
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The timing of its return to the news cycle is no accident. Kroenke's empire is having its biggest week in years: Arsenal finally won the Premier League under his ownership last season, and his Kroenke Sports and Entertainment group has just agreed a deal to buy MLB's Los Angeles Angels, reportedly for around $4 billion, expanding a portfolio that already spans the NFL's Rams, the NBA's Nuggets, the NHL's Avalanche, MLS' Rapids and the Gunners. With a personal fortune estimated near $27 billion, Silent Stan is louder than ever in the business pages, and that spotlight inevitably drags his political ties back into view. For Arsenal fans, the renewed debate lands awkwardly in a season where the football has never looked better.
It's worth noting that Trump himself was asked about Arsenal earlier this summer and replied he was not particularly a fan, before adding that he has a friend who owns Manchester United.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert