During his time in office, failed, one-term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump absolutely loved to brag about how he was donating his $400,000 a year presidential salary to charity, with the White House announcing every few months where the money had gone.
But did Trump actually donate four years worth of salary? That’s the question being asked by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold, who says he’s been unable to determine where some of the money went:
“Donald Trump promised to give away his $400,000 presidential salary. And he kept that promise, publicly announcing each gift — at least, for his first 3½ years in office.
“Then, in the middle of last year, the announcements stopped.
“Trump’s White House never said where — or even if — he donated the last $220,000 of his salary, covering the final six months of 2020 and the first 20 days of 2021.
“Now, six months after he left office, it’s not clear where Trump donated that remaining salary — or if he donated it at all.”
Of course, it was established years ago that Trump is a lifelong grifter and pathological liar, so it wouldn’t exactly come as a surprise if he had pocketed some or all of the money he claims he gave away. After all, this is the same Trump who stole money from a charity that bore his name and later had to shut down that charity or be charged with criminal behavior by the Attorney General of New York.
Even though the Post contacted people working for Trump to inquire about if he had donated the last part of his salary for 2020, no one actually got back to the newspaper to confirm or deny those donations had been made.
As the old saying goes, Grifters are gonna grift, and that’s been the case with Donald Trump since he first entered the business world decades ago.