Trump Donates First Quarter Salary for 2018 to Veterans Affairs
US President Donald Trump is giving away his salary for the first quarter of 2018. This donation will all go to the Department of Veterans announced on Thursday, May 17, and will go towards the programs of the department.
Earlier in his campaign, Trump has promised that he will donate his entire salary back to the federal government. He has pledged to give his federal salary to "important projects" within the government back during that time.
The first of his checks were formally handed to acting VA secretary Robert Wilkie during a White House briefing earlier this week, according to CBS News.
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Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders presented the check, signed by the president, to Wilkie in a symbolic check handover. It was one of the ways the current administration has highlighted its policy efforts every quarter.
"In keeping with his campaign pledge, the President donates his salary on a quarterly basis to further important projects. Today, the President is proud to donate his 2018 first-quarter salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs to support their caregiver programs," Sanders said in a press statement on Thursday.
Having received Donald Trump's salary for the first three months of 2018, the acting VA secretary shared with the press in a recent media briefing how they plan to use the donation. Wilkie said that the sum will all go towards the programs of the department for veterans, including caregiver support programs for their mental health, research, education, training, financial aid, and peer support.
"The president's gift underscores his promise to do all that he can for veterans, which includes supporting those who care for our veterans," Wilkie said in a statement, as quoted by Politico.
"Not just those of us at VA, but the husbands, the wives, the families and the community caregivers who are out there, day in and day out, making life easier for those who have borne the battle," the interim VA chief added.
Trump earns an estimated $100,000 as his salary every quarter, and he has given them away to a different government agency each time.
For the first of his quarterly donations, Trump gave it away to fund restoration projects at the [Antietam] National Battlefield. He then donated the entirety of his next quarterly pay to the Department of Education, specifically for the science, technology, engineering, and math camps that the agency hosts for children.
For his third salary donation, Trump has given all of his quarterly salary at the time to the Health and Human Services, to be used for the planning and design of a large-scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.
For his pay from the last three months of 2017, it all went to the Department of Transportation to help with its infrastructure projects.
This recent donation to the VA and its caregiver support programs now marks the fifth made by Trump since he became president.
