Donald and Ivanka Trump donated thousands to Kamala Harris as she rose in California politics

Senator says she donated Trump contributions to a Central American advocacy group

Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, repeatedly donated to Kamala Harris during her rise in California politics, supporting the Democratic senator as she vied to become the state’s top cop, a new report has revealed.

The president first donated to Ms Harris in 2011 as she was running for attorney general. That donation amounted to $5,000 (£3,793). He then donated another $1,000 (£758) to her re-election campaign in 2013, Washington newspaper McClatchy reported on Monday.

Ivanka Trump also donated thousands of dollars to the Democratic senator. In 2014 she donated a reported $2,000 (£1,517) to Ms Harris’ re-election efforts.

A spokesperson for the senator’s 2020 presidential campaign confirmed the president’s donations to her previous campaigns in a statement to McClatchy. They noted Ms Harris eventually donated the total sum of Mr Trump’s contributions to a non-profit Central American advocacy group.

Mr Trump’s support for the Democrat came at the same time as he was attacking Barack Obama on a variety of cable news shows and online, claiming he was not actually a US citizen and lacked the necessary qualifications to serve in the White House.

The president and Ms Harris’ political views are in stark contrast and the two have exchanged harsh criticisms since Mr Trump assumed the Oval Office.

In 2018, he claimed Ms Harris was responsible for “supporting the animals of MS-13,” after the Los Angeles-based gang began drawing national attention for a series of violent crimes.

Ms Harris told The Root last week she believed Mr Trump was racist, saying, “I don’t think you can reach any other conclusion.”

Much of the Trump family’s political donations went to Democrats across the country before the president expressed interest in running for the White House.

While the vast majority of his contributions to political campaigns were directed to Democrats throughout his entire career, donations began increasing in 2010 and were instead allotted to Republicans, with the party being the sole recipient of his donations by 2011.

Despite accruing donations from wealthy donors throughout her political career, Ms Harris managed to raise an impressive $1.5m (£1.14m) in donations within the first 24 hours of launching her White House bid against Mr Trump, with the average donation amounting to less than $40, according to her campaign.