Donald Trump wants to save the U.S. $400,000 a year by declining presidential salary

Donald Trump would decline his presidential salary

(Image credit: Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

published 18 September 2015

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is fond of saying that the U.S. is $19 trillion in debt — which is only a little high — and he is willing to do his part. In Wednesday's GOP debate on CNN, Trump offered to turn down his Social Security payments, and on Thursday, he said a President Trump would refuse to take a salary. "That's no big deal for me," he told a crowd in Rochester, New Hampshire. Which is probably true: On Thursday, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $4.1 billion, making him the 405th richest person on Earth, according to the magazine.

But $400,000 a year wouldn't do much to help the national debt, either. Such a move wouldn't be entirely unprecedented, Reuters notes: Both Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy donated their presidential salaries to charity.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.