Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump speaks to supporters and the media at Trump Tower in Manhattan following his victory in the Indiana primary on May 03. | Getty Trump rages at veterans money reports

Donald Trump is punching back at the "dishonest media" and "bad press" after a series of reports called into question just how much he raised for veterans at an event he put on in Des Moines, Iowa, instead of participating in the Jan. 28 debate on Fox News.

At the time, the Manhattan businessman's campaign said a fundraising event in honor of veterans had netted $5 million, in addition to $1 million kicked in by the candidate himself. But nearly four months later, only $3.1 million has been accounted for, according to The Washington Post's report last Friday attempting to locate the missing millions.


Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told the Post that the event raised $4.5 million, blaming some of Trump's deep-pocketed donors for backing out of writing big checks. But Lewandowski then told CNN on the same day as the Post report's publication that the $4.5 million figure was incorrect, remarking that he did not "know the exact number." The campaign last Friday did not identify any of the organizations that have received the funds, though in March it did release a list of 27 organizations that it said had received $2.9 million.

In a series of tweets Monday evening, Trump claimed the figure to be "between 5 & 6 million dollars, including 1million dollars from me," ripping the "dishonest and disgusting media" for producing "nothing but bad publicity" on the matter.

While under no obligation to do so, I have raised between 5 & 6 million dollars, including 1million dollars from me, for our VETERANS. Nice! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2016









Much of the money I have raised for our veterans has already been distributed, with the rest to go shortly to various other veteran groups. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2016









Amazingly, with all of the money I have raised for the vets, I have got nothing but bad publicity from the dishonest and disgusting media. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2016





David Fahrenthold, the Post reporter who wrote on the $4.5 million figure, then went on a 16-part tweetstorm of his own asking what accounts for the discrepancies between reported numbers.

8/ I've found evidence -- from vets groups, from donors, or from Trump staff--that at least 7 of the 9 paid up. https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016





9/ Together, those 7 gave $3.75M. @realdonaldtrump's website said online donors gave $670K, which adds up to $4.45M. https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016





10/ The other question: to whom did @realdonaldtrump give the $1M he pledged? https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016









11/ @realDonaldTrump says his $ has been given, but not to whom. I've been trying to find the vets groups who got it https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016









12/ Which, again -- if you received any of this $1M of Trump's personal money, DM me. https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016









13/ Bottom line: @realdonaldtrump fundraiser was a huge boost for the vets grps who got donations as a result. https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016









14/...But there are still questions about how much he raised, and how @realdonaldtrump met his personal $1M pledge https://t.co/eL01y8zgYf — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 24, 2016





On Tuesday, Lewandowski appeared on "CBS This Morning" to say that all of the money will be distributed by Memorial Day.

"Mr. Trump pledged a million dollars that he's donated personally through his personal accounts, and not through his foundation," Lewandowski said. "And the accounting that has been attributed to that has shown that $4.5 million already has been attributed. This is going to be somewhere between $5.5 million and $6 million total which will be given to the veterans. This was not an obligation Mr. Trump had. This is something he did to help the veterans so he can give back."

Asked whether Trump would release exactly where he has distributed the funds, Lewandowski said he would ask his boss to do so.

Trump himself assailed the political media in an Instagram video posted later Tuesday morning, suggesting that reporters should instead investigate the Clinton Foundation.

“I raised almost $6 million for the veterans, including putting up $1 million of my own money. I had no obligation to do anything or to do so, and I get nothing but bad press from the dishonest media. It is absolutely disgraceful," Trump said. "Why don’t they look into the Clinton Foundation, you want to see dishonesty.”