The White House Showed Off Trump's Latest Donated Paycheck and Accidentally Revealed His Banking Info

Four times a year, the White House holds a press conference to announce which government body will receive Trump's quarterly $100,000 paycheck, and unsurprisingly, the Department of Health and Human services is the latest beneficiary. These seasonal reminders that Trump is donating his presidential salary are supposed to be easy money for an administration in permanent need of a good press cycle. Still, the Trump White House managed to bungle even this latest announcement. When press secretary Kayleigh McEnany spoke to reporters Friday, she displayed the president's real-life paycheck—complete with his bank account and routing number.

When The New York Times asked the White House for comment on the blunder, spokesman Judd Deere offered a statement. "Today his salary went to help advance new therapies to treat this virus," it read, "but leave it to the media to find a shameful reason not to simply report the facts, focusing instead on whether the check is real or not." One of the facts worth noting is that while Trump is kicking $100,000 HHS's way, his 2021 budget proposes massive cuts to the agency. In February, with COVID-19 cases already recorded in the United States, the Trump administration introduced a budget that would cull more than $9 billion dollars from the department.

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The New York Times reported that, because the President of the United States has a little more than just Credit Karma protecting his finances, it's unlikely that he'll be successfully targeted by any would-be fraudsters. "This is one of those situations where setting the example is very important," identity theft expert Eva Velasquez told the newspaper. "It’s very important for your average person to understand this is not a best practice."

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Gabrielle Bruney

Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture. She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York.