During many of Donald Trump’s campaign rallies and pre-election interviews, the billionaire real estate investor promised to forgo presidential pay if he were elected to the oval office. Many right-wing pundits and politicos are now praising Trump for taking that stand now that he will assume the oval office. Many of his supporters are calling the move a “selfless act.”
The problem is that Mr. Trump has remained silent on the issue of pay since his election to the U.S. presidency. Another issue is that the President-Elect has backtracked on many of the issues he promised to deliver to the American people in just one short week since his election.
So, will President-Elect Trump backtrack on presidential pay? Well, first of all, he cannot turn down the pay according to law. Federal law stipulates that the president shall receive a salary in full for his services, which is $400,000 per year, as of 2016.
What Trump can do is donate that salary, all of it, to the charity of his choosing, just like President John F. Kennedy did and President Herbert Hoover. One big problem with Mr. Trump and donating all his salary to charity is whether or not the American people will know if he did donate the money to charity.
Well, for the American people to really know if he donates his salary to charity is by Mr. Trump releasing his tax returns. Everyone in the country knows how well that went during the Republican primaries and during the general election.