Donald Trump's campaign did not report the reimbursement to the Mexican government for the use of the helicopter, or any other associated costs of the trip to Mexico City in August.
In August, President Enrique Peña Nieto invited the then U.S. presidential nominees to Mexico to discuss the bilateral agenda but Hillary Clinton declined the invitation.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trump's campaign did not report incurring in any expenses while abroad.
TIME magazine said in September that Trump’s campaign did not address a specific question about the helicopter expense but spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement, “expenses for this trip weren’t due on this report and will appear on the next report.”
Paul Ryan, the deputy executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group, also told TIME that any expense relating to a campaign event must be covered by the campaign. “Failure by the Trump campaign to reimburse Mexico for Mr. Trump’s Mexico trip would amount to the receipt of an illegal in-kind contribution from the state of Mexico,” he said.
The Mexican financial information system Infosel has tried to contact Donald Trump's campaign team but it has been unavailable for comment.
