Trump Donates His Third-Quarter Salary to Help Fight Opioid Epidemic
White House says President has given $100,000 to help tackle the crisis
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President Donald Trump is donating his third-quarter presidential salary to help fight the United State's unprecedented opioid crisis, according to reports.
According to the White House, the president gave $100,000 to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health; the money is what he would have been paid in the third quarter.
The funds will go to the federal public health offices and programs, and the surgeon general’s office.
The White House stated the funds are being earmarked “to continue the ongoing fight against the opioid crisis.”
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Trump previously stated that tackling the misuse of opioids was his administration's priority.
In 2017, over 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, with a large portion of that being from opioids.
Even though Trump is required to be paid, he has instead pledged to donate his salary while in office to worthy causes.
Trump also donated his second-quarter salary to the surgeon general’s office earlier this year.
In April, opioid prescriptions were reportedly down by a third as more people enter addiction treatment under Trump.
Trump said he persuaded China to reel in fentanyl, a synthetic opioid responsible for killing tens of thousands of Americans, and that his criminal-justice reform bill has helped 16,000 inmates into drug-abuse treatment.
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Moreover, the number of people receiving medication-assisted treatment has risen to more than 60% under his administration.
“We will never stop until our job is done, and then maybe we’ll have to find something new,” Mr. Trump told the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta.
In September, Neon Nettle reported that Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents arrested a total of two hundred and ninety people and shut down dozens of pharmacies as part of a massive crackdown on the drug.
The DEA also seized $3.3 million in assets, including a small airplane and a yacht as part of an operation called “Operation Cazador.”
“Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration also confiscated more than 600 pounds of heroin and opioids as well as more than 35 weapons,” The Daily Mail reported.
According to the chief intelligence agent in the DEA’s Miami office, Justin Miller, the agency is trying to stop the problem and clean up their community, NBC News reported.
