After three month’s of Donald Trump’s presidency, the United States of America has seen some significant changes. New laws and regulations have been passed as President Trump works his agenda into the system. One of the biggest accusations toward President Trump and many government officials is lying and not following through with earlier promises made in the campaign session. However, President Trump has recently followed through in a promise he made involving his presidential salary.
According to USA Today news, “The president receives a salary of $400,000 a year as president, which, while generous, isn’t even close to today’s top executives salaries.” One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to not accept his salary but instead donate to various charities and organizations. With President Trump now being through the first quarter of his first year, he announced that his portion of the salary will go towards the National Parks Service and is to be used as the department sees fit.
There are two sides to this move by President Trump. On the surface, the donation looks like a brilliant and supportive move to help a department that is one of the oldest to protect the natural beauty of America. After taxes and such, the check was given in the amount of $78,333. Mother Jones news quoted Ryan Zinke, the Secretary of the Interior. He said, “Zinke emphasized the donation would help cover $229 million of deferred maintenance on the nation’s 25 national battlefields. ‘As a veteran myself, I want to say I am thrilled at the President’s decision to donate the check he did today,’ he said. ‘We’re excited about that opportunity.’” However, there is another side to the donation.
As a part of President Trump’s new agenda, he has introduced some severe funding cuts to several federal programs. Ironically, the Department of the Interior was one of the biggest cuts proposed by Trump. The Department of the Interior overshadows the National Parks Service, like a parent to the sub departments. President Trump proposed a $1.5 Billion dollar cut to the department, over 12% of the budget for the National Parks. The cuts will mean serious damage to the preservation of the parks nationwide, but to students like Jordyn Haessler, senior, it’s something that has to be done. “Trump is just trying to do the best with what he’s got. He came into a hard financial situation with America and is doing what he thinks is best,” said Haessler.
The donation by President Trump is argued for and against by both sides. The federal cuts are something that presidents have done in the past, just not always as severe.
