He also said that the prison sentences for Jan. 6 defendants were excessive. There is a growing push among public-health groups for lawmakers to take a tougher approach to regulating alcohol. The industry routinely spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress. Trump has said that his brother Fred’s struggle with addiction led him to avoid drinking and smoking entirely. Fred Trump Jr. died in 1981 at the age of 42, the result of a heart attack attributed to alcoholism.

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Andrew Taake of Texas pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers with bear spray and a “metal whip” on Jan. 6 and was sentenced to six years in prison. When federal agents arrested Ball on the Jan. 6 charges, they discovered that sober house he was also in possession of a gun and ammunition, which was illegal given his criminal history, according to prosecutors. In addition to the Jan. 6 charges, a grand jury in Florida handed down a separate indictment against Ball in August 2024 for “Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.” “The government’s forecast of evidence is compelling and suggests Defendant engaged in sexual acts with two young girls in his own family,” Magistrate Judge David Keesler wrote of the case against Daniel. “It is also alleged he took and kept photos of the genitalia of the victims. The mother of one victim (Defendant’s ex−wife) appeared in court to request that Defendant not be released.” Because of those findings, Judge Keesler ordered Daniel to remain in detention pending trial. Daniel has pleaded not guilty to the charges in North Carolina and that case remains pending.

Trump’s comments overlooked the role that the Jan. 6 defendants’ prior criminal records played in sentencing. Federal judges take that criminal history into account when deciding a criminal defendant’s sentence. But Trump’s pardons and commutations for people he has called “patriots” did not wipe away certain defendants’ extensive criminal records or any other criminal charges they may be facing. By law, he must be paid so Trump has donated the quarterly payments to various federal departments and agencies. The departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Transportation and Veterans Affairs, among others, have accepted Trump’s donations. The departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Transportation and Veterans Affairs, among others, have accepted Trump’s donations.

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RAI Services Co., a subsidiary of Reynolds American, was the biggest corporate donor to Trump’s campaign and affiliated super PACs, Federal Election Commission filings show, giving a combined $10 million to the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC that backed Trump’s campaign in 2024. Hemenway’s defense attorney argued that he had changed after his previous convictions. “He has turned from that part of his life and has made a new one,” his attorney wrote. Even after Jan. 6, Huttle continued to rack up state charges in Indiana for driving offenses.

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He saw firsthand the destructive power of alcohol, not just on his brother’s life but on the physical toll it took as well. Trump donated his first quarter salary of about $78,000 to the National Park https://northiowatoday.com/2025/01/27/sober-house-rules-what-you-should-know-before-moving-in/ Service. Education Department, the Transportation Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As Trump rewrites history, victims of the Jan. 6 riot say they feel ‘betrayed’

• Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of companies including Tesla and SpaceX, spent more than $200 million helping Trump, largely through Musk’s America PAC.
• Arrest warrant records alleged that Daniel Ball of Florida threw an “explosive device that detonated upon at least 25 officers” during the Capitol riot and also “forcefully” shoved police trying to protect the building.
• Kasey Hopkins, “has a lengthy and troubling criminal history” including a 2002 conviction for “forcible rape,” which resulted in a seven-year prison sentence, according to prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum for his Jan. 6 case.
• Before his passing, Fred would frequently tell Trump to never drink or smoke — a warning the 45th president says he’s followed.
• Those totals do not include other, smaller, PACs that backed each candidate.

He said the agency will use it to support “the infrastructure on our nation’s battlefields. We’re about $100 (million) or $229 million behind in deferred maintenance on our battlefields alone, and that’s on our 25 national battlefields. And we’re excited about that opportunity.” At a White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders presented a check for $100,000 to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. For the second quarter in a row, President Donald Trump declined to take a salary and opted instead to gift the quarterly installment to a government entity, this time to the Department of Education.

Taake allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl, but was, in fact, an undercover law enforcement officer, prosecutors alleged as part of his Jan. 6 case. The president donated his 2018 fourth quarter salary to the Department of Homeland Security and has donated to various federal entities during his time in office, including the National Park Service, the Department of Education and the Veterans Administration. Because of his criminal record, Martin was prohibited from owning guns. When FBI agents arrested Martin in connection with his Jan. 6 case, they found “eight firearms, including an AR‑15‑style rifle, multiple high-capacity magazines for the AR-15, and more than 500 rounds of ammunition.” Martin contended that the firearms belonged to his fiancée and father-in-law. He was separately tried and convicted in California of “Possession of Firearm and Ammunition by Person with Conviction for Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence,” a felony. Richmond’s criminal record, court documents indicate, also included convictions for resisting officers and driving under the influence, as well as an arrest for domestic abuse.

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• While Harris outraised Trump overall and secured donations from dozens of billionaires, the vice president got little support from corporate interests, FEC filings show.
• McMahon said the money would go toward the SBA veterans program, specifically a training program aimed at veterans interested in entrepreneurship.
• During the campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to forgo the $400,000 paycheck.
• Capitol, even those convicted of violently assaulting police officers.
• According to charging documents, Ball had a criminal record before his arrest for Jan. 6, including for “Domestic Violence Battery by Strangulation,” “Resisting Law Enforcement with Violence,” and “Battery on Law Enforcement Officer.”

Harris, meanwhile, drew support from leaders including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who gave approximately $12 million to Future Forward and Harris’ campaign, and Netflix chairman Reed Hastings, whose $7 million donation to Harris led some Republicans to cancel their Netflix subscriptions. Other prominent Harris backers in the business community include businessman Mark Cuban, Bloomberg LP owner Michael Bloomberg, Pinterest co-founder Paul Sciarra, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Peter Schwartz had a “jaw-dropping criminal history of 38 prior convictions going back to 1991” when he assaulted police officers with pepper spray on Jan. 6, according to federal prosecutors.

He wants consumers of the Trump brand and would-be lenders to believe he always keeps it together. Instead of alcohol, Trump prefers Diet Coke as his beverage of choice—a simple preference that starkly contrasts with the traditional image of business and political gatherings. As he resumed his role in the White House in 2025, becoming the second U.S.

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Trump’s latest donation of his quarterly salary in a briefing with reporters May 17. The choice of sending money to the Small Business Administration came despite Trump suggesting cuts to the agency in his 2019 budget proposal released Feb. 12, 2018. The document sought to cut 25 percent of the SBA’s federal funding, reducing the agency’s budget by 5.9 percent, according to the Washington Post. The Post reported that the SBA planned to use unspent funding from years past and new fees to make up the difference.

Article II of the Constitution requires the president to be paid, so Trump modified his promise to accept just $1 per year. President Donald Trump continues to maintain his campaign promise to donate his $400,000 annual White House salary with U.S. government agencies. Donors raised $1.7 billion in 2024 to back Harris’ campaign, between her main fundraising committee Harris Victory Fund and Future Forward. Those totals do not include other, smaller, PACs that backed each candidate.

Trump donates second-quarter salary to SBA

Administrator Linda McMahon accepted the check for $100,000 at a White House press briefing Oct. 3, 2018. “I donate 100% of my President’s salary, $400,000, back to our Country, and feel very good about it!” Trump tweeted Aug. 16. WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause …

• Hemenway’s defense attorney argued that he had changed after his previous convictions.
• In a tweet, Judd Deere, the deputy press secretary, confirmed that Trump’s first-quarter 2020 salary will be going to HHS for “the development of new therapeutics to treat #COVID19 infections.”
• “But he had a problem. He had a problem with alcohol, and he would tell me, ‘Don’t drink. Don’t drink.’ He was substantially older, and I listened to him and I respected (him).”
• Those $25 million checks rank as the biggest federal political donations any company gave in 2024.
• Kennedy has been sober for years after a highly publicized history with drugs, including a 1983 arrest for heroin possession.

President to serve two non-consecutive terms, Trump’s choice to abstain from alcohol remains unchanged. In an intimate reveal to The Washington Post back in 2019, Trump shared the sorrowful story of his elder brother, Fred Trump Jr., and how his struggle with alcohol influenced Trump’s own choices. 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 Before his passing, Fred would frequently tell Trump to never drink or smoke — a warning the 45th president says he’s followed.