As the current president, is trump receiving a salary during his second term?
Executive summary
The U.S. presidential salary is fixed by Congress at $400,000 per year and will apply to Donald Trump in his second term unless the law is changed, but multiple news reports and Trump’s public statements indicate he intends to forgo or donate that official salary again; whether he physically receives funds before redirecting them depends on administrative mechanics that reporting does not fully document [1] [2] [3]. Legally the pay exists and is disbursed; politically and rhetorically Trump has asserted he will not personally keep it [4] [5].
1. The law: the president’s salary exists and cannot be altered mid-term
The Constitution and statute establish the president’s pay as a fixed annual sum determined by Congress, and current reporting affirms the president’s annual compensation for 2025 and beyond is $400,000, supplemented by statutory allowances such as travel and entertainment funds or expense accounts [1] [4] [6]. Multiple outlets repeat that figure and note additional allowances — a travel fund and entertainment fund are described as traditional line items beyond the base salary — underscoring that the office carries both pay and expense entitlements distinct from any personal pledge [1] [4].
2. Trump's public pledge and historical precedent for refusing salary
Donald Trump has publicly said he will not accept the presidential salary in his second term and has made similar claims about having redirected or donated his salary during his first term, a practice noted in contemporary reporting and aggregated news accounts [5] [2] [7]. Reporting frames this as part of a small set of presidents who have declined or donated the salary — outlets point to precedents such as George Washington initially declining and other modern examples where presidents redirected compensation — and they record Trump’s repeated statements that he “didn’t accept it before, and I’m not going to this time either” [3] [8].
3. Practical mechanics: “forgoing” a salary is not a legal erasure of pay
News coverage emphasizes that even when presidents say they will refuse pay, the statutory salary remains in place and is typically paid through official payroll channels; past presidents who donated their pay did so after receipt by redirecting funds, not by legally canceling the entitlement [8] [4]. Reporting also highlights the administrative reality that other compensations and allowances continue to be available to the office and that travel and staff costs often dwarf the base salary, signaling a distinction between the symbolic pledge and the federal bookkeeping that governs presidential compensation [1] [8].
4. What reporting shows — and what it does not
Contemporary articles and fact-check trackers report Trump’s pledge and note his prior donations, but the sources do not provide contemporaneous, independently audited proof in the public record showing exactly how or when funds are rerouted in his second term payroll cycle, nor do they document whether any interim payments were processed before donation in 2025; those procedural specifics are not present in the provided reporting [5] [9]. Media pieces and financial profiles reiterate the $400,000 statutory salary and Trump’s stated intention to refuse personal benefit, while also placing that pledge in context of his broader personal wealth and other sources of income reported elsewhere [10] [6].
5. Bottom line — direct answer
Yes: under the law the president’s salary for a second term is $400,000 per year and will be paid to the officeholder’s payroll unless Congress changes the statute [1] [4]. However, multiple contemporary news reports and Trump’s own statements indicate he intends to forgo or donate that salary again; reporting documents the pledge but does not provide full public accounting here of the payroll mechanics or the exact flow of funds in the current term [5] [2] [8].