--- title: Donald Trump Donates First Quarter Salary to National Parks description: President Trump donated his first-quarter salary to the National Park Service, after proposing a budget cut for the Department of Interior canonical: https://time.com/4723693/donald-trump-salary-national-park-service/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-03T20:50:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:10:56.596Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Donates First-Quarter Salary to the National Park Service og:description: His proposed budget includes a $2 billion cut to the Department of Interior og:url: https://time.com/4723693/donald-trump-salary-national-park-service/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b69cd85495d7932/6988c1027cdbacdd95d57b35/trump-salary-national-park-service.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Sean Spicer Holds Daily Press Briefing At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Donates First-Quarter Salary to the National Park Service twitter:description: His proposed budget includes a $2 billion cut to the Department of Interior twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b69cd85495d7932/6988c1027cdbacdd95d57b35/trump-salary-national-park-service.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Donated $78K From His Salary to National Parks. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=df825f18-b918-4003-adfc-0d61492cde6f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 3, 2017 8:50 PM UTC  White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (L) the first-quarter check of President Donald Trump's salary, which he donated to the National Park Service as Tyrone Brandyburg (C), Harpers Ferry National Historical Park superintendent, looks on during the daily press briefing at the White House on April 3, 2017. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (L) the first-quarter check of President Donald Trump's salary, which he donated to the National Park Service as Tyrone Brandyburg (C), Harpers Ferry National Historical Park superintendent, looks on during the daily press briefing at the White House on April 3, 2017. Mark Wilson/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 3, 2017 8:50 PM UTC President Donald Trump on Monday [donated his first-quarter salary](https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/848974784763281409) — about $78,000 — to the [National Park Service](http://time.com/4648607/nps-national-park-service-twitter-donald-trump/) after he proposed a [$2 billion budget cut](http://time.com/4703905/donald-trump-budget-proposal-cuts/?iid=sr-link1) to the department that funds it. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced the donation Monday during his press briefing, handing a check for $78,333.32 to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Tyrone Brandyburg, superintendent for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Trump’s [proposed budget](http://time.com/4703218/donald-trump-white-house-budget/?xid=homepage) would [cut funding](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/interior-department-budget-could-be-slashed-by-12-percent/2017/03/15/f0d7b2f8-0999-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.21241dec956a) to the Department of Interior, which houses the National Park Service, [by 11.7%](http://time.com/4703905/donald-trump-budget-proposal-cuts/?iid=sr-link1). “As a veteran myself, I tell you, I am thrilled at the President’s decision to donate the check he did today,” Zinke said Monday. > [](https://twitter.com/SecretaryZinke/status/848984273755533313) He said he plans to put the money toward infrastructure and maintenance of the country’s national battlefields. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4723693/donald-trump-salary-national-park-service/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4723693/donald-trump-salary-national-park-service/"},"headline":"President Trump Donated $78K From His Salary to National Parks. 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