President Trump Donates Paycheck to Department of Homeland Security

White House press secretary Sean Spicer (R) gives Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (L) the first quarter check of U.S. President Donald Trump's salary, which he donated to the National Park Service as Tyrone Brandyburg (C), Harpers Ferry National Historical Park superintendent, looks on during the daily press briefing at the White House, on April 3, 2017 (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump donated another paycheck to a government agency, giving $100,000 to the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump has donated all of his paychecks since taking office.

He receives $400,000 a year, or $100,000 a quarter.

He has been donating the money on a quarterly basis.

Trump posted a picture of the check he wrote to the department, writing on Twitter: “While the press doesn’t like writing about it, nor do I need them to, I donate my yearly Presidential salary of $400,000.00 to different agencies throughout the year, this to Homeland Security.”

“If I didn’t do it there would be hell to pay from the FAKE NEWS MEDIA!” he added.

In January, Trump donated his salary from the third quarter of 2018 to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The institute is part of the National Institutes of Health. On its website, the institute is described as “the lead agency for U.S. research on alcohol use disorder, and other health and developmental effects of alcohol use.”

“Our mission is to support research, and then translate and disseminate research findings to reduce alcohol-related problems,” the website added.

Trump has said he’s never had any alcohol after being affected by his brother’s heavy drinking.

“I had a brother, Fred. Great guy, best-looking guy, best personality, much better than mine,” Trump said during a speech in 2017. “But he had a problem. He had a problem with alcohol.”

Trump said that Fred Trump, who died at the age of 43 in 1981, would tell him, “Don’t drink, don’t drink.”

President Donald Trump participates in a photo opportunity with the 2018 Division I FCS National Champions: The North Dakota State Bison in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 4, 2019.
(Oliver Contreras/SIPA USA)

“He was substantially older and I listened to him and I respected him. He would say it over and over and over again. And to this day, I’ve never had [a] drink. And I have no longing, I have no interest in it,” Trump said. “I learned because of Fred. He was a strong guy but it was a tough, tough thing that he was going through.”

By law, Trump must be paid as president.

As part of a post touting Trump’s accomplishments during his first two years, the White House noted  on Jan. 20, “Each quarter since taking office, President Trump has donated his salary, fulfilling a promise he made to the American people.”

He donated his third-quarter 2017 salary, for instance, to Health and Human Services (HHS). The department was told to use the money to help combat the opioid crisis.

Eric Hargan, acting HHS secretary, said during an announcement that the donation was “a tribute to [Trump’s] compassion, to his patriotism, and a sense of duty to the American people.”

He said the agency would use the money for a public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.

“The president is personally dedicated to defeating this crisis because addiction hits home for so many of us,” Hargan said. “You heard him share the story in his opioid speech about how he lost his own brother to alcoholism. And speaking personally, opioid addiction has been a presence in my hometown, in my family, for years.”

Trump also donated $100,000 to the Small Business Administration, with the agency’s head Linda McMahon accepting a check at a White House briefing in October 2018.

She said the funds would go toward a training program that helped veterans interested in starting their own businesses.

Other agencies that have received donations from Trump include the National Park Service, the Department of Education, and the Department of Transportation.