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)

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 Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.