White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham expected praise after she touted President Donald Trump’s generosity for once again donating his $400,000 salary to a government agency. Instead her tweet drew scorn because Trump is fleecing taxpayers for millions.
Since taking the job last year, Grisham has not held a single press conference, preferring to deliver Trump’s propaganda without being questioned about it by reporters charged with holding government officials accountable.
This week, she did more of the same by bragging about Trump donating the fourth quarter of his presidential salary ($100,000) to the Department of Health and Human Services as the coronavirus outbreak continues.
President @realDonaldTrump made a commitment to donate his salary while in office. Honoring that promise and to further protect the American people, he is donating his 2019 Q4 salary to @HHSGov to support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain, and combat #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/R6KUQmBRl1
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) March 3, 2020
The problem is that while donating the presidential salary would normally be considered generous, Trump is actually making a whole lot more than that when he takes trips to his golf courses, all paid for by taxpayers.
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Upon completion of his 29th such trip in February, Trump had played 248 times at a cost to taxpayers of $134 million, which equals 334 years worth of presidential salary. By comparison, Obama played far less golf at a much lower cost to taxpayers.
According to the Huffington Post:
Because Trump insists on playing at courses he owns, the cost to taxpayers has been nearly four times as high as it was for Obama. More than two-thirds of Trump’s golf outings involve seven-figure trips aboard Air Force One, mainly to Florida and New Jersey, but also to Los Angeles, Ireland and Scotland. Obama, in contrast, played most of his golf on courses at military bases within a short drive of the White House.
What’s more, Trump’s insistence on playing at courses he owns and profits from has put at least a few million taxpayer dollars into Trump’s cash registers in the form of hotel room and restaurant charges for the White House staff and Secret Service agents who accompany him.”
So, Trump is directly profiting from his golf resorts every time he visits, which makes his “donation” meaningless.
Twitter users pointed that out and more in response to Grisham.
How do we get back the hundreds of millions he’s wasted golfing
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) March 3, 2020
Also, if he “is” donating his salary to HHS to fight the coronavirus, why is the check dated over a month ago?
— Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) March 3, 2020
He also signed a check to silence a pornstar about an affair he had with her while his son was only 4 months old and his wife was at home taking care of him. pic.twitter.com/ootfNONYEO
— jessica (@two_plus_twins) March 3, 2020
After cutting $15 billion from national health spending and cutting global disease-fighting budgets of CDC, NSC, DHS, HHS, he donates $100k to HHS.
In @donnabrazile voice, Go to Hell!
— Chidi®️ (@ChidiNwatu) March 3, 2020
Trump’s “donated” salary barely covers one of his weekend stays in Mar-a-Lago. Nor will will it put a dent in the $100,000 a day it cost for security when Melania lived in Trump Tower. It certainly won’t cover Ivanka’s extravagant international outings. https://t.co/Bk8aAumW5R
— Alexandra Chalupa (@AlexandraChalup) March 3, 2020
Anybody can write a check, HHS or trump needs to show a check that shows “deposited” on the back. H
— Griffin (@Artist222Guy) March 4, 2020
Trump doesn’t need his salary when he’s profiting off his office nonstop. https://t.co/crvs12I3xZ
— Chris B (@ChrisBEsq) March 3, 2020
He stole 10x that much from Veterans with his “charity”
— Commander Rann (@Grendal1969) March 4, 2020
Great…. Now do the profits he makes from the Secret Service and staff staying at Mar a Lago and Bedminster.
— Doug Gordon (@dgordon52) March 3, 2020
This pays for tests for less than 50 people.
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) March 3, 2020
Featured image via screen capture
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