Trump donates second-quarter salary to SBA

President Donald Trump donated his second-quarter salary for 2018 to the Small Business Administration, reaffirming his promise to forgo a presidential paycheck.

Administrator Linda McMahon accepted the check for $100,000 at a White House press briefing Oct. 3, 2018.

McMahon said the money would go toward the SBA veterans program, specifically a training program aimed at veterans interested in entrepreneurship.

"We're going to establish a seven-month intensive training program called 'Emerging Leaders,'" McMahon said at the briefing. "It's an adaptation of that program for our veterans, helping them transition from military life into private sector if they desire to start their own jobs and their own companies and be entrepreneurs."

The second quarter covers April through June 2018. The White House press office did not get back to us on where Trump will donate his third and fourth quarter salary for 2018.

Trump's yearly salary is $400,000. Article II of the Constitution requires the president to be paid, so Trump modified his promise to accept just $1 per year.

Trump has donated his quarterly salary since taking office. Other recipients include the National Park Service, the U.S. Education Department, the Transportation Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The choice of sending money to the Small Business Administration came despite Trump suggesting cuts to the agency in his 2019 budget proposal released Feb. 12, 2018. The document sought to cut 25 percent of the SBA's federal funding, reducing the agency's budget by 5.9 percent, according to the Washington Post. The Post reported that the SBA planned to use unspent funding from years past and new fees to make up the difference.

Trump similarly proposed cuts to agencies for 2018 in favor of defense spending, but Congress did not act on those recommendations, according to The Post.

We will keep tabs on whether Trump continues to donate his salary, but for now he's been doing just that. So we rate this Promise Kept.

Correction: The story incorrectly referred to the Small Business Administration and has been corrected.