This was Donald Trump’s big announcement at his “counter-debate"

As his rivals in the Republican Party debated, Donald Trump spoke at a separate fundraiser at Drake University in Iowa on Thursday.

And he had a major announcement to make: Trump promised to donate $1 million of his own money to veterans during his speech. (Forbes has valued Trump's worth at $4.5 billion.)

Trump's speech can be viewed at the link below:

One of the speakers who appeared before Trump was Tana Goertz, a former contestant on the reality TV show The Apprentice and the Trump campaign's Iowa state co-chair.

Goertz urged Iowans to "put your faith in Mr. Trump," saying she had been mentored by the billionaire.

"I want to tell you about the real Donald Trump — not the one the media wants to portray him to be," Goertz said. "I learned so much being mentored by Mr. Trump."

Trump made headlines this week after announcing he would boycott the debate, accusing the host Fox News and debate co-moderator Megyn Kelly of being biased against him.

In addition to his $1 million personal donation, Trump said that nearly $6 million has been donated for veterans in connection with his event.

A story in NBC News on Thursday noted that the Donald J. Trump Foundation "has given little to vets groups."

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via