Donald Trump Demands $5 Million From Maher After Birth Certificate Joke; Did He Get The Last Laugh?

The real estate mogul publicly demanded that Maher cut him a check in response to a series of back- and-forth verbal spars, which included the political commentator demanding that Trump produce his birth certificate to prove he wasn’t the “spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.” Maher said that if Trump acquiesced, he would donate $5 million to a charity of Trump’s choosing; he suggested Hair Club for Men.

The jest was in response to a deal Trump proposed to President Barack Obama in October, holding that if the president produced his college transcripts and passport application by Oct. 31 (a week before the election), he would donate $5 million to the charity of his choosing. Trump built up anticipation for the announcement over the course of several weeks, teasing that he had a “very, very big” revelation to make, before finally revealing the "news" in a YouTube video.

"If he releases these records, it will end the question and indeed the anger of many Americans," Trump said in the video.

The offer came after years of demands from so-called “Birthers” – of whom Trump had been a leader – that Obama publicize his long-form birth certificate to verify his birth in America. To quell the long-running debate, the president finally made public his birth certificate on Aug. 27, 2011 and a photocopy was published on the White House’s website.

Trump, however, suggested in his October video announcement that the documents were not enough. He called Obama “the least transparent president in the history of this country,” and said that if he produced his college records, to Trump’s satisfaction, he would be doing “a great service” for the country.

“If Barack Obama opens up and gives his colleges records and applications, and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to the charity of his choice — inner-city children in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research, anything he wants — a check immediately for $5 million," he said. "The check will be given within one hour after he releases all of the records so stated. He will be doing a great service for the country if he does this." 

Obama’s team mocked the offer, but when the same offer was made to Trump by Maher, he accepted. Trump’s attorney Scott Balber followed up Maher’s joke by sending him a copy of Trump’s birth certificate, with a letter attached.

“Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan,” the letter stated, reported to Yahoo! News. “Please remit the $5 million to Mr. Trump immediately and he will ensure that the money be donated to the following five charities in equal amounts: Hurricane Sandy victims, the Police Athletic League, rhe American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.”

Maher has not yet responded.