Shortly after winning the presidential election in November, then President-elect Donald Trump vowed to not take the $400,000 salary he was set to earn as the United States’ commander-in-chief.
“No, I’m not gonna take the salary. I’m not taking it,” he told CBS’s Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes.
In April, Trump donated his first-quarter salary of $78,333.32 to the National Park Service to fund the agency’s battlefield preservation efforts, a program that is currently $229 million behind in deferred costs.
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And on Wednesday he gave his second-quarter pay worth $100,000 to the Education Department to help fund a STEM-focused camp for students, according to a department press release.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the “generous gift” showed the president’s “commitment to our nation’s students and to reforming education in America so that every child, no matter their ZIP code, has access to a high-quality education.”
Trump’s budget proposal, meanwhile, seeks to cut the Education Department’s budget by 13%. It proposes slashing the budget of the Interior Department—which houses the National Park Service—by 12%.
DeVos said the beneficiary of Trump’s donation—the camp focused on science, technology, engineering, and math—is part of the department’s effort to encourage students to explore the fields. She referenced a STEM summer reading event for young girls that she and Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, attended on Tuesday, saying the participants “got to explore, create and experiment in a collaborative environment.”
“Today’s and tomorrow’s economy requires engaged students, boys and girls, are prepared for STEM careers,” DeVos said in a statement.
