Trump Donates Entire Q4 Salary to Effort To 'Confront, Contain, and Combat' Coronavirus
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham announced on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is donating his entire fourth-quarter salary to the Department of Health and Human Services to help combat the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
“President @realDonaldTrump made a commitment to donate his salary while in office,” Grisham tweeted.
“Honoring that promise and to further protect the American people, he is donating his 2019 Q4 salary to @HHSGov to support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain, and combat #Coronavirus.”
President @realDonaldTrump made a commitment to donate his salary while in office. Honoring that promise and to further protect the American people, he is donating his 2019 Q4 salary to @HHSGov to support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain, and combat #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/R6KUQmBRl1
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) March 3, 2020
In November, Trump donated his $100,000 third-quarter salary to the “Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, which oversees federal public health offices and programs, including the surgeon general’s office,” to help tackle the nation’s opioid crisis, according to The Associated Press.
When the former businessman ran for office, he pledged that he would not accept his $400,000-per-year salary.
However, because he is required to be paid by law, the president has been donating his salary each quarter to various government agencies.
During his first year in office, he gave to the Department of Transportation, the Department of Education to support a science summer camp, and the National Park Service for restoration projects at the Antietam National Battlefield.
In 2018, Trump contributed to the Small Business Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
During a meeting with his coronavirus task force and leaders in the pharmaceutical industry at the White House on Monday, the president contended that his administration has been aggressively addressing the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
“We’re also working with Congress to ensure that America has what it needs to respond to this challenge — this great challenge,” Trump said.
“But everybody is responding very well,” he added.
“Since the start of the outbreak, my administration has taken the most aggressive action in history to protect our citizens, including closing our borders very early — a lot earlier than people wanted us to do,” Trump said.
The president said the decision turned out to be a good one, while noting he also “ordered sweeping travel restrictions, increased travel advisory levels, established screening measures, and imposed historic quarantines.”
CBS News reported there are currently 100 coronavirus cases in the U.S. in 15 states.
Nine deaths have been attributed to the virus’ outbreak.
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