News

Where Did President Trump Donate His Salary?

A list of announced recipients of U.S. President Donald Trump’s donated paychecks since January 2017.

Published Dec 13, 2019

Updated Aug 3, 2020
White House spokesman Sean Spicer displays the first quarter check of US President Donald Trump's salary which he donated to the National Park Service during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM        (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images) (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Image Via NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

As we previously reported, U.S. President Donald Trump did not donate his entire salary for the purpose of rebuilding military cemeteries.

However, Trump has repeatedly followed up on his pledge to donate his presidential salary. The following list documents what government projects or departments have been chosen to benefit from Trump’s quarterly paychecks so far:

Quarter/Year Recipient Earmark
Q1 2017 Dept. of the Interior National Park Service maintenance of a Civil War site
Q2 2017 Dept. of Education A science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) camp for children
Q3 2017 Dept. of Health and Human Services Public awareness campaign about opioid addiction
Q4 2017 Dept. of Transportation Infrastructure grant program
Q1 2018 Dept. of Veterans Affairs Caregiver programs
Q2 2018 U.S. Small Business Administration “Emerging Leaders” program
Q3 2018 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Not yet announced
Q4 2018 Dept. of Homeland Security Not yet announced
Q1 2019 Dept. of Agriculture Outreach programs, according to a statement from USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue provided to Snopes
Q2 2019 Surgeon General’s Office “An upcoming public health advisory,” USA Today reports.
Q3 2019 Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health “To continue the ongoing fight against the opioid crisis,” the White House told the Associated Press
Q4 2019 Dept. of Health and Human Services To help "confront, contain, and combat coronavirus."
Q1 2020 Dept. of Health and
Human Services
To "develop new therapies for treating and preventing coronavirus."


To be clear, this list documents announcements not receipts of Trump's donations.

CNN reports that “federal regulations prohibit agencies from accepting donated funds unless Congress grants authority to the agency to accept the donation. Without congressional authorization, donated money is deposited into the general fund of the Department of Treasury.” We contacted the Department of Treasury to find out if documentation for any such deposits is publicly available and have yet to hear back.

We will continue to update this list as more details become available.

Updates

Updated to include details from March 3, 2020, announcement.

Updated to include announcement of Q1 2020 salary donation.

Bond Huberman is a former editor for Snopes.