W
HEN Donald Trump was deep into the campaign trail, he vowed to work for free if elected. “I am totally giving up my salary if I become president,” he said as far back as 2015.
According to the US Constitution, however, he isn’t allowed to refuse his salary, officially set at $400 000 a year. So this week he donated his pay from his first 10 weeks on the job to the US National Park Service.
At the same time, however, his proposed official budget cuts could severely affect funding to the same parks.
Trump is proposing deep budget cuts to the Interior Department, which includes the Park Service, with a $1.5-billion or 12% trim from the budget. Ultimately, US Congress will say how much the department can spend.
At a White House briefing on Monday, Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer handed a cheque signed by Trump for $78 333.32 to Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, who oversees the park service.
“The service has cared for our parks since 1916, and the president is personally proud to contribute the first quarter of his salary to the important mission of the park service,” Spicer said.
Zinke said he was “thrilled” and added that the gift would be earmarked for the preservation of national battlefields.
He also suggested, however, that the money wouldn’t go very far.
“We’re about $229-million behind in deferred maintenance on our battlefields alone,” he said.
Others were more vocal about being unimpressed. Michael Brune, on behalf of the environmental organisation the Sierra Club, said: “If Trump is actually interested in helping our parks, he should stop trying to slash their budgets to historically low levels.
“America’s parks and the people and economies they support need real funding, not a giant fake cheque.”
2016, it beat the previous record of an international flight that flew from Vienna, Austria, to Bratislava, Slovakia in 10 minutes.
The flight, run by the Austrian People’s Air Group, has proven too costly and has not attracted the number of passengers expected, news agencies reported.
At the time of its launch, the carrier’s CEO Danel Steffen said it would benefit tourists and commuters and was likely “to become a must in every aviation enthusiast’s logbook”.
The final takeoff is scheduled for April 14.