--- title: President Trump Donated $78K to the National Park Service. But That's Just a Fraction of What He Wants to Cut description: President Donald Trump's donation to the National Park Service is a fraction of the amount he wants to cut from the department that runs it authors: - name: Jennifer Calfas url: https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 339 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/jencalfas former_staff: true published: '2017-04-04T18:03:11.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T05:35:33.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - Donald Trump - onetime word_count: 333 canonical: https://money.com/donald-trump-national-park-service-donation-budget-proposal/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Sean Spicer Holds Daily Press Briefing At The White House](https://img.money.com/2017/04/trump-donation1.jpg) *Press Secretary Sean Spicer, right, gives Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, left, the first quarter check of Donald Trump's salary, which he donated to the National Park Service as Tyrone Brandyburg, center, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Superindendant, looks on at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 3, 2017.* [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/4724384/what-president-trump-told-egypts-leader/) donated his first quarter salary to the [National Park Service](https://time.com/4523492/lgbt-theme-study-nps/) on Monday, fulfilling his campaign promise [to give away the money](https://time.com/4699969/donald-trump-presidential-salary-donate/) he earns while in the Oval Office. But his $78,333.32 gift makes up just [a small fraction](http://time.com/4723693/donald-trump-salary-national-park-service/?iid=sr-link1) of what the Interior Department [would lose](http://time.com/4703905/donald-trump-budget-proposal-cuts/?iid=sr-link1) if [Trump’s budget proposal](http://time.com/4703218/donald-trump-white-house-budget/?xid=homepage) were approved. ![](https://img.money.com/2017/04/trump-graph.jpg?quality=85) The President’s proposed budget [would cut](http://time.com/4703905/donald-trump-budget-proposal-cuts/?iid=sr-link1) about $1.5 billion from the budget for the Department of Interior, which operates the National Park Service and other agencies. The budget proposal does not disclose how much of the Interior Department’s cuts would affect the National Park Service itself, which had a [$3.1 billion budget](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/upload/FY17-NPS-Greenbook-for-website.pdf) for fiscal year 2017. Trump’s donation will fund the National Park Service's battlefield preservation efforts, a program that is currently $229 million behind in deferred costs. While the President's donation won't make a large dent in that shortfall, officials from the Interior Department and National Park Service said they are thankful for Trump’s gift. “As a veteran myself, I am thrilled at the President’s decision to donate the check he did today,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said. The National Park Service manages the American Battlefield Protection Program, which is dedicated to protecting and preserving 25 historic battlefield sites around the country. The National Park Service budgeted $10 million in grants for the program in 2017. Trump makes $400,000 per year as President, and has promised to donate his entire salary while leading the country. Conservation activists and environmentalists criticized Trump’s donation, calling it a “publicity stunt" in light of the substantial cuts he has proposed to the Interior Department. “If Donald Trump is actually interested in helping our parks, he should stop trying to slash their budgets to historically low levels,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, in a [statement](http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/04/sierra-club-pans-trump-s-park-donation-publicity-stunt). “This publicity stunt is a sad consolation prize as Trump tries to stifle America’s best idea.” Representatives for the National Park Service and the White House did not respond to a request for comment. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/donald-trump-national-park-service-donation-budget-proposal/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Federal Agencies", "item": "https://money.com/federal-agencies/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "President Trump Donated $78K to the National Park Service. 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