Trump donating salary to HHS coronavirus efforts
President refuses paychecks
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President Trump will donate his salary from the first quarter of the year to efforts to develop new coronavirus therapies.
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced Trump’s plan to donate $100,000 of his annual $400,000 salary to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for its work on COVID-19 during a White House press briefing Friday.
McEnany made the announcement shortly after Trump said houses of worship are “essential” and should reopen from pandemic shutdowns this weekend.
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Trump, who was already wealthy from his business dealings before he was elected president, has opted to forego a salary during his administration and has instead donated it to various causes.
This will mark the second quarter that Trump has put the money toward efforts to overcome the coronavirus. In March, then-Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump was donating his salary from the final quarter of 2019 to HHS, also for the department’s work on COVID-19.
President Donald Trump speaks during a listening session with African American leaders at Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant that has been converted to making personal protection and medical equipment, Thursday, May 21, 2020, in Ypsilanti, Mich. (AP
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At that time, the virus had killed just six Americans. As of Friday, more than 95,000 people in the U.S. had died from the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Trump also donated portions of his salary last year to the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Office of the Surgeon General.
FOX Business' Evie Fordham contributed reporting.