Q&A of the Day – Altruism by President Trump that goes unnoticed
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s entry: I love when you fill in for Mark Levin, & I love when you praise our president. DJT has done great things in his life. I wish you could do a couple of segments on DJT. I know he paid off a mortgage for someone who stopped on the Long Island Expressway cuz he had a flat tire. I know he paid off a family farm cuz they were losing it due to taxes. I know you have a way to find these great things much better than I do. I just talked to someone here in Southern Florida that didn't know Trump wasn't taking a salary. No one I know can hold an audience's attention better than you, next to Rush. I really hope you give this some thought. Thanks in advance.
Bottom Line: Thanks for the kind words and the support. It’s appreciated! As for President Trump’s good deeds... I’ll start with the Presidential salary. President Trump’s salary is $400,000. It’s paid quarterly in $100,000 increments. To date, he’s never taken a dollar for himself. When he became president, he asked that he not be paid. He was told by OMB that he must be paid under federal law. He decided that since it was taxpayer money, he should donate his salary to federal programs. Here are where the donations have gone:
2017: National Park Service, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation
2018: Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Small Business Administration, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Department of Homeland Security
2019: Department of Agriculture, Surgeon General’s Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (still waiting on the 4th quarter cause)
Now, I do think it’s important to address rumors. The Long Island Expressway mortgage story wasn’t true. It was a myth reported by Forbes during the Christmas season in 1995. In 1997, President Trump’s personal assistant confirmed it never happened. It is true that he paid off a deed to a family farm. The tragic event happened in February of 1986. A family farm in Waynesboro,Georgia was about to be auctioned due to foreclosure. Twenty minutes before auction,the husband killed himself in an effort to stop the auction,and provide insurance money his wife could use to pay it off. The policy still wasn’t enough to satisfy the deed. When Trump heard the story,he reached out to the widow and paid off the loan. And that story speaks to the greater point of President Trump. Mostly it’s small things that make a difference in someone’s day and occasionally their life more meaningfully.
In my handful of dealings with him, most prior to becoming president, I’ve witnessed him going out of the way to thank his employees. Commonly he’s handed out $100’s to his employees at Mar-A-Lago and Trump National resorts just to let them know he appreciates them. I’ve seen him treat waitstaff as well as members. As for charitable donations above and beyond... The organizations are numerous over the years. A lot of negative attention was directed to his foundation after it was found to have donated to charities that held events at his properties. What wasn’t told is that the money still benefited charities like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Morselife Foundation, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Palm Beach Zoo.
A hater’s gonna hate, right? So, for those who don’t like President Trump it wouldn’t matter what he’s done for whom or for how long. But that’s ok. I've always felt the best gestures are the ones you don’t seek attention for and most of what he does and has done doesn’t. That’s the greatest indication it’s being done for the right reasons – especially given his proclivity for attention seeking and marketing prowess.