11 ms·

Trump also donated/is donating his salary.

sleepychu 8y ago
Serious question, do you have a citation for that? He's pulled so much shit with money I'd not be surprised to discover it's the re-elect Trump campaign charity.
- pg_bot 8y ago
  Here is an article that details the donations.[0] So far it has been 100K checks given to a different federal agency quarterly. He has donated to the National Parks Service, Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Transportation. [0] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/02/13/president-trump-donates-fourth-quarter-salary-infrastructure-projects/334379002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018...
  - nkristoffersen 8y ago
    How much has the trump administration reduced the budget for these agencies?
    - dantheman 8y ago
      Reducing the budget and donating are two very different things and not even cross purpose. You may believe that we have to reign in spending -- we do spend more than we take in. It may make sense to cut programs you like to fund ones that are important, and then donate money to the one you just cut -- because you like it. Now... I don't believe this is what's happening.
    - pg_bot 8y ago
      There is some nuance that needs to be discussed before I answer your question. The executive branch does not have the power of appropriation, that duty is handled by congress. The president does submit a budget request to congress, and signs or vetoes each distinct appropriation bill that congress passes. Increases or decreases of a department's budget can not be unilaterally seen as good or bad. What taxpayers should be most concerned about is the impact that the spending is having not the dollar amount spent. (Plato taught Socrates on a rock) You need to look at trends over time and the specifics of the budget to see if increases or decreases in spending are justified. For example the department of education's budget was 73.3 billion dollars in 2010. In 2014 that figure was 40.8 billion. In 2018 it will be 66.9 billion. At the surface those swings seem quite surprising. You have to dig deeper to understand what really happened instead of taking them at face value. The Washington post has an article exploring Trump's proposed 2019 budget. You can view that article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/trump-budget-2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/trump-...
  - fencepost 8y ago
    Thanks for the link, but I note that it reports on what the White House says is being donated. Is there any available verification of actual numbers? Given past history I wouldn't trust Trump's self reporting of charitable or similar donations until the check cleared with independent verification from the recipients - and unless it was a money order I'd probably want a month or two extra before believing it had really cleared. Edit: for anyone who feels this is unjustified, I would love to see links to charitable organizations confirming receipt of donations from the president or the Trump Organization. Direct from the charity, confirmation to reputable news organizations, responses in interviews, anything like that - I don't want things excluded on technicalities.
    - pg_bot 8y ago
      I mean there are press conferences where his press secretary is literally handing over a check to the head of the respective agency. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZkLEmJvDjQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZkLEmJvDjQ [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr8li6hpC2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr8li6hpC2s [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftt_y__EP7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftt_y__EP7w [3]: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4714620/trump-donates-4thq-salary-department-transportation https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4714620/trump-donates-4thq-sa...
      - ceejayoz 8y ago
        Trump has used fake props before: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-press-conference-folders-business-plan-empire-blank-fake-handover-donald-jr-eric-a7523426.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-tru...
        fencepost 8y ago
        Perhaps so, but I'll agree with pg_bot - there actually are times when he's followed through on donations. I'm not sure what percentage of his promised donations they are, but he has donated at least some of the money he's pledged to.
AFNobody 8y ago
And making it back from the Secret Service/etc in fees and then some. It is clearly a scam where he donates $X then quietly steals a multiple of it. http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/news/secret-service-mar-a-lago/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/news/secret-service-mar-a-la... I too wish I could set my travel plans then charge the government. Oh and: https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/administration/386192-qatari-government-bought-65-million-apartment-in-trump-tower-weeks%3famp https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/administrati... That right there covers his salary "donations" for 8 years.
teekert 8y ago
Hey man, don't say anything positive about Trump here, unless you hate HN karma.
tudorconstantin 8y ago
I wonder how comes that a comment about Obama has positive kharma, while exactly the same comment about Trump has negative kharma. On this forum, where people seem to appreciate objectivity and correct thinking more than anything. And where it takes 500 kharma to be able to downvote something.
- melling 8y ago
  “home come” I said “home comes” for way too long. Politics is a minefield. In general, people are narrow-minded assholes. HN is no different. “Politics is the art of marshalling hatred” Charlie Munger
  - dahart 8y ago
    That’s so sadly cynical & pessimistic. I’m glad there are politicians who don’t feel this way, and have optimism and energy to try to build a better future. If everyone gave up, things would be awful compared to what we have now. Politics is very difficult because people are different and myopic and concerned for themselves, that is true. But that doesn’t mean people are assholes or full of hate, we just have different points of view. We’re physically incapable of not being self-centered, we don’t have a shared consciousness, so that will never change. Politics is the art of navigating many many legitimate and different and opposing points of view. If that turns into meting out hatred, then please please get out of politics. BTW, here’s one actual study suggesting that people in general prefer optimism in politics. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/08/01/do-u-s-voters-prefer-optimistic-politicians-heres-what-we-found/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.80214e6cd768 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/08/0...
    - sah2ed 8y ago
      Optimism is a good outlook to maintain in life, but lets not kid ourselves as to the real purpose served by politicking. "Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." - Ambrose Bierce (The Devil's Dictionary, 1911) No need to look further than the $50m of political spending in 2017 by FAAG [0] for regulations that would serve their interests like tax reforms, with Google leading the pack with $18m. [0] https://www.recode.net/2018/1/23/16919424/apple-amazon-facebook-google-uber-trump-white-house-lobbying-immigration-russia https://www.recode.net/2018/1/23/16919424/apple-amazon-faceb...

Serious question, do you have a citation for that? He's pulled so much shit with money I'd not be surprised to discover it's the re-elect Trump campaign charity.

pg_bot 8y ago
Here is an article that details the donations.[0] So far it has been 100K checks given to a different federal agency quarterly. He has donated to the National Parks Service, Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Transportation. [0] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/02/13/president-trump-donates-fourth-quarter-salary-infrastructure-projects/334379002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018...
- nkristoffersen 8y ago
  How much has the trump administration reduced the budget for these agencies?
  - dantheman 8y ago
    Reducing the budget and donating are two very different things and not even cross purpose. You may believe that we have to reign in spending -- we do spend more than we take in. It may make sense to cut programs you like to fund ones that are important, and then donate money to the one you just cut -- because you like it. Now... I don't believe this is what's happening.
  - pg_bot 8y ago
    There is some nuance that needs to be discussed before I answer your question. The executive branch does not have the power of appropriation, that duty is handled by congress. The president does submit a budget request to congress, and signs or vetoes each distinct appropriation bill that congress passes. Increases or decreases of a department's budget can not be unilaterally seen as good or bad. What taxpayers should be most concerned about is the impact that the spending is having not the dollar amount spent. (Plato taught Socrates on a rock) You need to look at trends over time and the specifics of the budget to see if increases or decreases in spending are justified. For example the department of education's budget was 73.3 billion dollars in 2010. In 2014 that figure was 40.8 billion. In 2018 it will be 66.9 billion. At the surface those swings seem quite surprising. You have to dig deeper to understand what really happened instead of taking them at face value. The Washington post has an article exploring Trump's proposed 2019 budget. You can view that article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/trump-budget-2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/trump-...
- fencepost 8y ago
  Thanks for the link, but I note that it reports on what the White House says is being donated. Is there any available verification of actual numbers? Given past history I wouldn't trust Trump's self reporting of charitable or similar donations until the check cleared with independent verification from the recipients - and unless it was a money order I'd probably want a month or two extra before believing it had really cleared. Edit: for anyone who feels this is unjustified, I would love to see links to charitable organizations confirming receipt of donations from the president or the Trump Organization. Direct from the charity, confirmation to reputable news organizations, responses in interviews, anything like that - I don't want things excluded on technicalities.
  - pg_bot 8y ago
    I mean there are press conferences where his press secretary is literally handing over a check to the head of the respective agency. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZkLEmJvDjQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZkLEmJvDjQ [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr8li6hpC2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr8li6hpC2s [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftt_y__EP7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftt_y__EP7w [3]: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4714620/trump-donates-4thq-salary-department-transportation https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4714620/trump-donates-4thq-sa...
    - ceejayoz 8y ago
      Trump has used fake props before: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-press-conference-folders-business-plan-empire-blank-fake-handover-donald-jr-eric-a7523426.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-tru...
      - fencepost 8y ago
        Perhaps so, but I'll agree with pg_bot - there actually are times when he's followed through on donations. I'm not sure what percentage of his promised donations they are, but he has donated at least some of the money he's pledged to.

AFNobody 8y ago

And making it back from the Secret Service/etc in fees and then some. It is clearly a scam where he donates $X then quietly steals a multiple of it. http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/news/secret-service-mar-a-lago/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/news/secret-service-mar-a-la... I too wish I could set my travel plans then charge the government. Oh and: https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/administration/386192-qatari-government-bought-65-million-apartment-in-trump-tower-weeks%3famp https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/administrati... That right there covers his salary "donations" for 8 years.

teekert 8y ago

Hey man, don't say anything positive about Trump here, unless you hate HN karma.

tudorconstantin 8y ago

I wonder how comes that a comment about Obama has positive kharma, while exactly the same comment about Trump has negative kharma. On this forum, where people seem to appreciate objectivity and correct thinking more than anything. And where it takes 500 kharma to be able to downvote something.

melling 8y ago
“home come” I said “home comes” for way too long. Politics is a minefield. In general, people are narrow-minded assholes. HN is no different. “Politics is the art of marshalling hatred” Charlie Munger
- dahart 8y ago
  That’s so sadly cynical & pessimistic. I’m glad there are politicians who don’t feel this way, and have optimism and energy to try to build a better future. If everyone gave up, things would be awful compared to what we have now. Politics is very difficult because people are different and myopic and concerned for themselves, that is true. But that doesn’t mean people are assholes or full of hate, we just have different points of view. We’re physically incapable of not being self-centered, we don’t have a shared consciousness, so that will never change. Politics is the art of navigating many many legitimate and different and opposing points of view. If that turns into meting out hatred, then please please get out of politics. BTW, here’s one actual study suggesting that people in general prefer optimism in politics. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/08/01/do-u-s-voters-prefer-optimistic-politicians-heres-what-we-found/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.80214e6cd768 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/08/0...
  - sah2ed 8y ago
    Optimism is a good outlook to maintain in life, but lets not kid ourselves as to the real purpose served by politicking. "Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." - Ambrose Bierce (The Devil's Dictionary, 1911) No need to look further than the $50m of political spending in 2017 by FAAG [0] for regulations that would serve their interests like tax reforms, with Google leading the pack with $18m. [0] https://www.recode.net/2018/1/23/16919424/apple-amazon-facebook-google-uber-trump-white-house-lobbying-immigration-russia https://www.recode.net/2018/1/23/16919424/apple-amazon-faceb...