A new financial report confirmed President Trump’s assertion that not only did he not profit off the presidency, but actually grew less wealthy as a result of his service to the American people.
This is according to estimates by Forbes published in their annual billionaires list on Tuesday. Forbes assessed his net worth at $2.4 billion, down from $3.5 billion in 2017 at the onset of the Trump administration.
Despite four years of accusations from the left that President Trump was enriching himself from the White House, his time in office actually cost him about 32 percent of his total wealth. This, confirming the truth behind his numerous statements on the matter.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ve spent, and I think I will, in a combination of loss and opportunity, probably it’ll cost me anywhere from three to five billion dollars to be president,” President Trump said. “And the only thing I care about is this country. Couldn’t care less, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it.”
Moreover, the analysis performed by Forbes and verified by industry experts also projected that had President Trump sold off all his assets and used the proceeds to invest in the stock market, he would have made himself $1.6 billion richer.
This was due to the thriving stock market overseen by the Trump administration and boosted by a business-friendly overhaul of the U.S. tax code, which was spearheaded by President Trump.
According to Forbes, the 45th President refused to “cash in on a market boom he helped propel.”
“Now with all that being said, I’m so glad I’ve done it, because you know, there are a lot of rich people around, got a lot of rich friends, but they can’t help, and they can’t do what I’ve done in terms of helping this country,” President Trump stated.
The Constitution mandates the president receive a salary amount decided by Congress, and thus a sitting commander in chief cannot legally refuse it outright. Even George Washington was forced by Congress to accept a salary against his wishes.
However, the president can donate his earnings.
Keeping one of his earliest campaign promises, President Trump donated the totality of his salary, set at $400,000 a year, or $1.6 million over four years, to various government agencies throughout his presidency.
His first quarterly donation was in the amount of $78,333, which Forbes estimated were his post tax earnings, which was topped off by an “anonymous” donor to a total of $100,000. This is the same amount President Trump donated every other quarter of his presidency, suggesting he was not only not taking in a salary, but dipping into his own private funds to pay taxes on that salary, and then donating the pre-tax amount back.
Yet despite all those financial losses, President Trump said on repeated occasions he had no regrets over making that sacrifice for the sake of the American people.
“People have asked me, what do you think it costs? And between opportunity, not doing things. I used to get a lot of money doing speeches, now I give speeches all the time. You know what I get? Zippo. And that’s good. And I did a lot of great jobs and great deals that I don’t do anymore, and I don’t want to do them, because the deals are making are great deals for the country, and that’s to me much more important,” President Trump stated.