What is Donald Trump entitled to since he is no longer President?
By leaving the White House, Donald Trump will not leave empty-handed. A statute, the Former Presidents Act, provides several lifetime benefits for former presidents who have not been removed from office.
l raised his fist, greeted the crowd of White House employees and said, “It has been a great honor, the honor of a lifetime. Then Donald Trump boarded the Marine One helicopter, headed for Andrews Air Force Base, a few kilometers away, for a farewell ceremony to his supporters, Wednesday, January 20, the day of the inauguration of his successor, Joe Biden. He then flew to Florida, which supported him until the end.
A law to secure the future of former presidents
One thing is certain: he will not leave empty-handed. The Former Presidents Act (FPA), a law on former presidents of the United States, was passed in 1958 and amended several times. It provides several lifetime benefits for retired presidents - who have not been removed from office, under Article 2, Section 4 of the US Constitution, which deals with impeachment.
This law was intended to fill a void. Previously, the US federal government paid no pensions or other retirement benefits to former US presidents. In 1912, industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie proposed to endow former presidents with an annual pension of $ 25,000 (over $ 600,000 today), but members of Congress wondered about the merits of such a private pension. This forced elected officials to reflect and legislate to offer benefits to former presidents. In 1958, when the FPA came into effect, only Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman were still alive. The first died in 1964 at the age of 90, the second died in 1972 at the age of 88.
Lifetime Secret Service Protection
Originally, the law provided for lifelong protection by the Secret Service, the presidential security services. In 1994, it was reduced to ten years for presidents taking office after 1996. But Congress amended this provision with the 2012 Former Presidents Protection Act: all former presidents and their spouses now have the right to benefit from the lifetime protection of the secret services. Their children are entitled to protection until the age of 16.
Richard Nixon, who died in 1994, is the only president to renounce Secret Servi protection in 1985. According to his services, it was to save US taxpayers dollars. This protection represents a budget of $ 1 million per year for the president and $ 500,000 for his wife.
A golden retreat
In a short video posted to his Twitter account as part of a question-and-answer session at Twitter's New York headquarters, Donald Trump said on September 21, 2015: “I give up my salary entirely if I become president. The billionaire estimated that he could bypass the $ 400,000 annual salary stipulated by law. Which he did, donating it quarterly, between 2017 and 2019, to different ministries. Before him, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy had given up their salary as president. On retirement, Donald Trump has not spoken.
In practice, the Secretary of the Treasury (equivalent to the Minister of Finance) pays a taxable pension equal to the remuneration of a minister to former presidents. In 2020, it was equivalent to $ 219,200 per year.
This pension is payable immediately after the departure of the president. The spouse of a former president can also receive a lifetime annual pension of $ 20,000 if he waives any other statutory pension. But do they need it? Knowing that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have become "cash machines", giving lectures, writing books or producing documentaries for Netflix.
An office and staff
The General Services Administration (GSA), the US federal government agency created to help manage and operate other federal agencies, provides office rental and salaries for recruited staff. by the ex-president.
These staff are recruited by the former president and refer only to him in the performance of his duties. Each former president sets compensation, which does not exceed an annualized total of $ 150,000 for the first thirty months and $ 96,000 thereafter. The president can also recruit staff paid from private funds.
In 2019, the budget allocated to the four former presidents was $ 3.9 million. In December, Congress granted an extension of $ 500,000 to increase the budget to $ 4.4 million and support Donald Trump, reports Roll Call, a newspaper specializing in the life of Congress and Washington.
Coverage of health costs
Former presidents have the right to medical care from military hospitals. They pay this support at the rate set by the Bureau of Management and Budget, a service whose mission is to assist the President in preparing the budget. Presidents who have served two terms may purchase health insurance under the Federal Employee Health Benefits program.
A building for visits to Washington
Having decided to leave Washington, a city he has never loved, and having a Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, Donald Trump is unlikely to ever visit the Presidential Townhouse. Located at 716 Jackson Place, a stone's throw from the White House, this building is owned by the US government and, since 1969, has been for the exclusive use of former Presidents of the United States. The five-story building includes two dining rooms, several bedrooms and space for the Secret Service escort.
A presidential library to tell "its" story
Like his predecessors, Donald Trump will have to look into the creation of his Presidential Library. Since Calvin Coolidge's two terms of office (1923 to 1929), all presidents have created this place in which documents, recordings and historical objects received during their tenure are preserved and made accessible. They are administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Before leaving, Donald Trump reportedly discussed plans for a memorial library and museum with a pharaonic $ 2 billion budget, which his supporters would be tasked with funding, reports The Washington Post. But Donald Trump is not just any president. It is that of “alternative realities”. "Will she mention the two impeachment trials, the pandemic, her role in the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6? CNN asks. His presidential library "could contain a section of wall with Mexico, letters from Kim Jong-un," the Times ventures to imagine.
It remains to be seen what Donald Trump will do in Florida. Will he play golf, launch a television channel, as he envisioned in case of defeat in 2016, prepare for his return in 2024 or pass the torch to his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr.? Before boarding Air Force One to the sound of Y.M.C.A. of Village People, Donald Trumpa said, “We'll be back one way or another. It all depends above all on the legal consequences given to the investigations targeting him.
