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Spicer: Trump wants press to pick where he donates his presidential salary
President Donald Trump says he plans to donate his presidential salary to a charity chosen by the press corps, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Spicer: Trump wants press to pick where he donates his presidential salary

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump plans to donate his entire presidential salary to charity, and he wants the press corps to help him decide where it goes.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to forgo the presidential compensation — which totals $400,000 per year – but, according to a report from NBC News over the weekend, the White House has yet to provide any evidence that Trump is declining the salary.

During his daily briefing Monday, Spicer told reporters that the president plans to donate all $400,000 to charity at the end of the year. The spokesman also jabbed the press corps, saying Trump wants their advice on where the money should go so he can "avoid scrutiny."

"The president’s intention right now is to donate his salary at the end of the year, and he has kindly asked that you all help determine where that goes," he said. "The way that we can avoid scrutiny is to let the press corps determine where it should go."

Reporters in the White House press room immediately laughed at Spicer's proposition.

"In all seriousness," Spicer continued, "I think his view is he made a pledge to the American people, he wants to donate it to charity, and he'd love your help to determine where it should go."

One reporter jokingly suggested Trump donate the money to the White House Correspondents Association or maybe a journalism scholarship.

"That would be a great way to do it," Spicer replied.

Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts took to Twitter to suggest Trump donate his salary either to the Fisher House Foundation, which builds homes near military and Veterans' Affairs hospitals for families to stay in while their loved ones are receiving care, or the TAPS Organization, which aides those grieving the death of a loved one who served in the U.S. military.

"I'm not going to take the salary," Trump, then the president-elect, said during a November interview on CBS' "60 Minutes."

According to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the president is required to receive a salary, “which shall neither be increased nor diminished,” during his or her time in the Oval Office. And, according to federal law, the president must receive monthly payments totaling $400,000 per year, along with an expense allowance of $50,000.

Last month, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told PolitiFact that Trump would be giving his salary "back to Treasury or donating" it to a charity.

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