The best promises President Donald Trump has delivered on to date relate to his personal finances. He has made a few good donations of his salary as president, to a Civil War battlefield and to the Department of Education to fund a STEM camp. The president promised a few weeks ago to personally give $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, and he has quickly delivered on that promise.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that the Red Cross and Salvation Army received $300,000 apiece, with Samaritan’s Purse and Reach Out America–both Christian relief organizations–received $100,000 each. The remaining $200,000 was divided equally among the ASPCA, Catholic Charities, Direct Relief, Habitat for Humanity, the Houston Humane Society, Operation Blessing, Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies and Team Rubicon, according to The Hill.
Fact checkers including The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his research on Trump’s charitable giving, were able to substantiate most of Trump’s donations.
Reactions
UPDATE: Direct Relief received @realdonaldtrump's donation for Harvey aid: "It was a personal check signed by Donald J. Trump for $25,000."
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) September 13, 2017
The @HoustonHumane Society gets $25K donation from @realDonaldTrump @FLOTUS https://t.co/jMSjJfFNHA #harvey
— Lauren McGaughy (@lmcgaughy) September 14, 2017
Final thoughts
It’s good that so many news organizations are able to hold the president accountable for his personal giving. It’s not so good that they all believed they might get the scoop on how Trump didn’t follow through quickly like happened with his $6 million veterans organization promise.
It’s very good that Trump seems to have learned his lesson, that private businesspeople can get away with things out of the public eye, that politicians and presidents cannot. One thing I cannot help but admit is that Trump’s heart is in the right place. Perhaps it’s always been in the right place, but the businessman/huckster side of Trump’s personality tends to overshadow his better angels.
Either way, good Trump: The money is needed.
