President Donald Trump is donating his first-quarter salary to the National Park Service.
The announcement was made on April 3 by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Spicer presented a check for $78,333 on the president’s behalf to Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, and Superintendent of the Harper’s Ferry Park site, Tyrone Brandyburg.
The National Park Service manages all U.S. national parks, many American national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties. It is bureau under the Interior Department.
“For those who aren’t familiar with the Department of Interior, we span 12 time zones, from the Virgin Islands, all the way to Palau. And within our holdings are 20 percent of the nation’s land. We have 417 national parks, we have 562 federally recognized Indian nations, 567 wildlife refuges, and 221 wilderness areas. And I’m the steward of our nation’s finest and most majestic holdings,” said Zinke.
Zinke explained that the president’s donation would be put towards preserving historic battlefields.
“As a veteran myself, I tell you, I am thrilled at the President’s decision to donate the check he did today,” he said. “We’re going to dedicate it and put it against the infrastructure on our nation’s battlefields. We’re about $100 [million] or $229 million behind in deferred maintenance on our battlefields alone, and that’s on our 25 national battlefields. And we’re excited about that opportunity.”
