Trump donates first-quarter salary to National Parks Service

[True Dough]

Will be used to maintain historic battlefield sites -- like the site of the infamous Bowling Green Masscare!

President Trump will donate his first three months of salary to the National Park Service, White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced Monday.

"The president has spoken with counsel and made the decision to donate his first-quarter salary to a government entity," Spicer said at Monday's briefing.

Spicer handed a check for $78,333.32 for the National Park Service to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Spicer said the paycheck starts from Jan. 20, when Trump took office, until now.

At Monday's briefing, Zinke said the donation will go to the maintaining historic battlefield sites.
During the campaign, Trump vowed that he wouldn’t take the presidency's $400,000 annual salary if elected, and he repeated that promise after his victory in November.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/327036-trump-donates-first-quarter-salary-to-national-park-service

[kentuck]

1. And how much did he make off the Trump International Hotel?

Which he did not divest himself from and which is prohibited by our Constitution?

Ooooo,,, he donated his salary.

BFD !!

[luvMIdog]

2. For someone who chose not to ever serve in the military he sure is obsessed with playing military

[osaMABUSh]

3. He is actually getting a tax break and costing us $

There was an excellent article I read a while back (can't find it now) that says if he would have just declined any salary it would cost the taxpayer much less than giving it away. I think they had the numbers too. Trump is getting a tax break by donating his salary to charity. So it is a net gain for him to take it and donate rather than taking no salary from us in the first place.

[True Dough]

5. I found that reference here:

Under his current plan to donate his salary, Trump will not only be taking the $400,000 salary, but he will also be given a tax break on the donation—money that would have otherwise gone to the U.S. Treasury in the form of income taxes. Depending on Trump’s income bracket, he will be given a tax break between $140,000 and $156,000 on the $400,000 donation. In the end, Trump’s salary will cost the Treasury between $540,000 and $556,000, making Trump the highest-costing president in U.S. History.

http://www.arbiternews.com/2017/03/16/trumps-new-salary-promise-make-expensive-president-u-s-history/

[Ms. Toad]

8. He is not, by law, allowed to decline it. n/t

The President shall receive in full for his services during the term for which he shall have been elected compensation in the aggregate amount of $400,000 a year, to be paid monthly, and in addition an expense allowance of $50,000 to assist in defraying expenses relating to or resulting from the discharge of his official duties. Any unused amount of such expense allowance shall revert to the Treasury pursuant to section 1552 of title 31, United States Code. No amount of such expense allowance shall be included in the gross income of the President. He shall be entitled also to the use of the furniture and other effects belonging to the United States and kept in the Executive Residence at the White House.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/102

Donating it is the closest he can come to not drawing the salary. (You're correct that he is better off taking the salary & deducting it. But that's not an option.)

[stillcool]

9. he does it all..

for the Donald.

[Vinca]

4. It's probably extra cash so they can decide which parks to sell off to big oil and coal.

[lpbk2713]

6. Not to forget ...

the rethugs still want to sell of the public lands to private ownership.

[madamesilverspurs]

7. Just another act

of meaningless grandstanding.


.

[Tanuki]

10. Barely a drop in the bucket of what his proposed budget will hack from their funding.

[Ms. Toad]

11. So there's at eleast a drop of good.

He's got a long way to go to counter all of the evil and extra expense. But I'll take drops of good where I can find them with this administration.

[lame54]

12. until we see it...

[hatrack]

13. Oh, fuck him with a 70-horse Evinrude . . .

A $12 billion backlog in Park Service maintenance, he just took a dump on any chance we had on climate, gutting the EPA, putting an ignorant clown in charge at DOE and now this PATHETIC BULLSHIT?

[NastyRiffraff]

14. Let's wait for the check to clear

I'll believe it when I see it. Meanwhile, where are those tax returns?

[EarthFirst]

15. 0.000772% of the proposed budget cut to the National Parks Service...

Thanks?

[KewlKat]

16. since the NPS is not a non profit I wonder how he'll right this off on his taxes.......suppose he

could change them to non-profit.

[ananda]

17. You mean the service he's selling off to the highest bidders?

Sheesh

[fishwax]

18. how about just funding them instead. yeesh.