Michelle vs Melania demonstrates how Trumps spend $5 million less than Obamas on White House salaries

Thomas Phippen, DCNF

An analysis of White House salary data reveals that President Donald Trump’s administration is spending $5 million less of taxpayer money on his staff than his predecessor.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Trump employs 377 people at the White House, with a total of $35.8 million, while former President Barack Obama paid $40.9 million for 476 employees in 2015, according to data analyzed by Open The Books. 

Another key difference between the Obama and Trump White House is the first lady’s staff. Michelle Obama retained 24 staffers in the first year of the Obama White House. Melania Trump currently employs four — a chief of staff who is also listed as advisor to the president, a deputy chief of staff, a communications director, and a scheduler.

“Projected four-year savings on the White House payroll could top $22 million,” Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of Open The Books, writes for Forbes. Those projected savings include Trump’s promise to accept one dollar in salary and give the remainder back to the U.S. Treasury.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, both advisors to the president, are not accepting any salary. Most top White House staff, including Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Omarosa Manigault, Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer, and 17 others make $179,000 annually.

Obama had the same number of top advisors at this stage of his presidency in 2009, but he also appointed many “czars” to oversee special initiatives with a particular focus on recovery efforts after the 2008 financial crisis. Trump has not continued that

While $22 million in savings is a tiny amount compared to the nearly $20 trillion national debt or the $3.9 trillion federal budget, “it could be a leading indicator of Trump’s commitment to cut waste, fraud and taxpayer abuse,” Andrzejewski said.

Follow Thomas Phippen on Twitter

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles