Q: The Trump administration released its annual report to Congress on White House Office Personnel, which said that President Donald Trump decided not to take a dime of his salary. Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries. Are there any other presidents who have donated their salary to charities, and if so, their names.
—Jay Jayaraman, Roswell
A: While Trump has pledged to donate his presidential salary, the $400,000 annual compensation is being split into four quarterly contributions.
The president took office on Jan. 20, 2017, and in April, the New York Times reported he donated the salary he earned during the first quarter, totaling $78,333.32, to the National Park Service, which is part of the Department of the Interior.
His second quarter salary of $100,000 was donated in late July to the Department of Education, to encourage science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump is not the first U.S. president to donate his presidential salary. Presidents Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) and John F. Kennedy (1961-1963), both of whom were also wealthy when they took office, donated their presidential salaries to charity, according to presidential archives.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Keith Still contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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