By: Aswathi K
November 25 2020
Keeping his 2015 campaign promise, President Donald Trump donates his entire salary and has to keep a $1 token amount.
Keeping his 2015 campaign promise, President Donald Trump donates his entire salary and has to keep a $1 token amount.Since the American constitution does not allow a president to reject their earnings, President Donald Trump began donating his salary quarterly in April 2017, according to PolitiFact. The first $100,000 went to the National Park Service, and since then, he has donated to various federal departments. Most recently, Trump donated the last two quarters of his 2019 salary and his first quarter of his 2020 salary to the Department of Health and Human Service specifically for COVID-19 and the U.S. opioid crisis. Since presidents are required to be compensated for their work, Trump takes $1 each year from his paychecks. According to a USA Today fact check, Trump has written checks equal to a quarter of his $400,000 annual salary every quarter to various government agencies including National Parks Service, Small Business Administration, Department of Education, and Department of Veteran Affairs among others. Trump still makes profit from his real estate empire which critics say is conflict on interest for someone in office since it violates the constitution's emoluments clauses.