President Trump wrote a check to the Department of Health and Human Services that will go toward a public information campaign about the opioid crisis, fulfilling part of his pledge not to take a salary in his role in the Oval Office.
The donation is part of Trump’s pledge to give his $400,000-a-year presidential salary away. His first quarter salary went to the Department of the Interior and his second-quarter salary went to the Department of Education.
The latest check will go toward paying for a public awareness campaign that will detail the dangers of opioid addiction, which involves prescription painkillers and illegal drugs like heroin. The awareness campaign was one of the recommendations that Trump’s opioid commission made earlier this month.
Eric Hargan, acting secretary for HHS, made the announcement during the press briefing Thursday.
“His decision to donate his salary is a tribute to his compassion, his patriotism and his sense of duty to the American people,” Hargan said.
Trump has said that tackling the opioid crisis is one of his top priorities, and his administration declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Hargan said Thursday that the agency so far had carried out some of the declaration by approving state waivers to expand addiction treatment and clarifying that doctors and hospitals can share information with family members in life-threatening situations.
“Part of the way we aim to stop this crisis is by raising awareness of how devastating and deadly drug addiction can be,” Hargan said.
The opioid epidemic resulted in more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, according to the latest-available data from the Centers for Disease Control.
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