President Trump donated his salary for the first quarter of 2018 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump’s $100,000 quarterly salary will go toward the VA’s caregiver programs. The president is donating his salary each quarter to “important projects,” she said.
Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie attended Thursday’s press briefing to accept the donation. He said the money will go toward mental health and peer support programs, financial aid and research that will assist individuals who care for veterans.
“The president’s gift underscores his promise to do all he can for vets, which includes supporting those who care for veterans. Not just those of us at VA, but the husbands, the wives, the families and the community caregivers who are out there day in and day out,” Wilkie said.
The VA is currently without a full-time director. Trump fired former VA Secretary David Shulkin in March. He nominated Adm. Ronny Jackson to replace him, but Jackson withdrew last month in the face of allegations of improper behavior.
Trump has previously donated his quarterly salaries to the Transportation Department, the Health and Human Services Department for the opioid epidemic, the National Park Service and the Education Department.