How much money has Trump accepted for being president of the United States

1. What the law pays a president: the headline number

The base statutory salary for the president is $400,000 a year — the commonly cited figure and the one used in contemporaneous reporting about Trump’s donations ^{[1] [3]}.

2. What Trump publicly said he would do and what his team announced

Trump pledged on the campaign trail to take no salary, and throughout his administration the White House released statements saying he was donating his quarterly paychecks to various federal agencies and causes, with publicized quarterly gifts around $100,000 each ^{[6] [4] [2]}.

3. The practical reality: he was paid, then announced donations

Multiple fact‑checks and news outlets note a consistent pattern: the presidential salary was reported on tax and payroll records, and the administration simultaneously presented checks, press events and agency confirmations that the equivalent amounts were being donated to agencies such as the National Park Service, Department of Education and HHS — i.e., he was paid the $400,000 annual salary on paper, and announced quarterly donations of about $100,000 ^{[2] [3] [7]}.

4. Why “accepted” is legally and practically complicated

Legal commentary emphasizes that the Constitution’s Compensation Clause contemplates the president receiving compensation and that Congress controls appropriations, which raises questions about a president “funding” the government by returning pay — Trump was the first president to publicly donate his entire salary to government agencies, a practice that legal scholars have flagged as raising constitutional and statutory issues ^[8]. Snopes and other trackers caution that many public lists document announcements of donations rather than clear Treasury receipts, and some agencies lack statutory authority to accept unrestricted cash gifts without Congressional authorization ^{[5] [8]}.

5. What can be stated with confidence and what cannot

It can be stated with confidence that the presidential salary is $400,000 per year, that Trump’s administration announced quarterly donations roughly equal to one quarter of that salary, and that major fact‑checks (USA TODAY, AFP) confirm both the payments on payroll and the publicized donations ^{[1] [3] [2]}. It cannot be fully asserted from the provided reporting whether every dollar was routed, earmarked and recorded in Treasury accounts exactly as portrayed in press events — reporting trackers and legal analyses note gaps and ambiguities in public documentation ^{[5] [8]}.

6. Competing narratives and incentives to shape them

The White House had clear political incentives to publicize donations as proof of a no‑salary promise and goodwill, while oppositional actors amplified tax‑return minutiae to suggest the pledge was a sham; independent fact‑checks conclude that the narrative is mixed — donations were announced and some agencies confirmed receipt, but tax records alone don’t prove the full path of money and legal scholars flag constitutional questions about the practice ^{[4] [2] [8]}.

7. Bottom line answer

On paper the president’s pay during Trump’s term was $400,000 a year; Trump accepted that pay (it appears on payroll/tax records) and his administration publicly announced quarterly donations of about $100,000 each — meaning the practical answer is: $400,000 per year was paid to him as president, with repeated public statements and agency confirmations that he donated those amounts quarterly, though independent reporting flags limits in publicly available documentation about every final accounting of those funds ^{[1] [2] [3] [5]}.