President Trump has donated his 2018 third-quarter salary of $100,000 to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, The White House said late last week. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes.
- Fred Jr.’s battle with alcoholism eventually cost him his career as a pilot, forcing him back into the family business.
- There is a growing push among public-health groups for lawmakers to take a tougher approach to regulating alcohol.
- The impact of Fred Jr.’s decline and early death left a lasting impression on Trump.
- Murthy also called for an expanded warning label on all alcoholic beverages that would include cancer risk, similar to the warning label on cigarettes.
- Earlier this month, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a bombshell report warning that alcohol consumption can increase cancer risk.
- Donald Trump often claims that he does not now nor has he ever imbibed alcohol, explaining that he wanted to avoid the fate of his alcoholic older brother Freddy, an airline pilot who died at 43 in 1981.
He explained that seeing the physical toll drinking took on his brother also put him off touching booze. While some US presidents have been teetotal in office, such as George W Bush and Jimmy Carter, Donald Trump has said that he has always been teetotal and not drunk alcohol. Returning US president Donald Trump does not drink alcohol, and he has spoken about the reason why. Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy are the only other U.S. presidents to refuse a salary while in office.
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The research agency was just the latest recipient of Trump’s presidential salary. Supreme Court, A Guide To Sober House Rules: What You Need To Know litigation against Donald Trump and clashes over abortion rights. Durkee previously covered U.S. politics at Vanity Fair and Mic, and as a theatre journalist she served as a New York Outer Critics Circle voter.
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While visiting the White House in 1995, then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin reportedly got so drunk that secret service agents found him standing on Pennsylvania Avenue in nothing but his underwear trying to flag down a taxi and demanding a pizza. Before his passing, Fred would frequently tell Trump to never drink or smoke — a warning the 45th president says he’s followed. Trump’s brother, Fred Jr., died nearly four decades ago at the age of 43 after battling alcohol addiction.
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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. His older brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism, and the president has said he learned from his brother’s experience. Trump pledged as a candidate in 2016 to not accept the $400,000 annual presidential salary he would be due if elected. His older brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism, and the president has said he learned from his brother’s experience. Donors raised $1.7 billion in 2024 to back Harris’ campaign, between her main fundraising committee Harris Victory Fund and Future Forward.
Trump pledged as a candidate in 2016 to not accept the $400,000 annual presidential salary he would be due if elected
Those totals do not include other, smaller, PACs that backed each candidate. There beside Casablancas and in pursuit of European models, Trump drank, according to Laraby (a bartender who has long used only one name professionally, sometimes spelling it Larabee) and Michael Ault, a titan in clubland who is credited with inventing bottle service. One of the models Trump met in this era was Melania Knauss, a Slovenian invited to New York by the founder of the ID Models agency, Paolo Zampolli. Fred Jr.’s battle with alcoholism eventually cost him his career as a pilot, forcing him back into the family business. Tragically, he died from a heart attack at the young age of 42 on September 26, 1981.
However, diverging from expectations, Fred Jr. chose a career in aviation, becoming a pilot—a decision that disappointed his father and, by his own admission, Trump himself. Trump regretted the pressure he put on his brother concerning his career choice, a pressure that might have pushed Fred toward his troubles with alcohol. He said he told his older brother he was ‘wasting your time’ with alcohol and since regrets ‘having put pressure on him’, having tried to persuade him to give up his dream of being a pilot to run the family business. Trump’s transition team has not yet responded to a request for comment on RAI’s support and how Trump plans to handle the tobacco industry when he’s in office. RAI Services Co., a subsidiary of Reynolds American, was the biggest corporate donor to Trump’s campaign and affiliated super PACs, Federal Election https://thecinnamonhollow.com/a-guide-to-sober-house-rules-what-you-need-to-know/ Commission filings show, giving a combined $10 million to the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC that backed Trump’s campaign in 2024.
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His hotels and golf clubs all sell alcohol, and the Trump Organization owns a winery in Charlottesville, Virginia. And while Trump doesn’t drink, that didn’t stop him from once hawking his own vodka brand. Donald Trump once said that not drinking was “one of my only good traits.” Just before he left office, former President Joe Biden, a fellow teetotaler, and his administration left Trump an opportunity to leave a lasting imprint on the billion-dollar beverage industry. Speaking to the Washington Post back in 2019, he explained that his brother Fred’s death at the age of 42 from a heart attack caused by alcohol abuse had convinced him not to drink. The president has said the experience affected his views on alcohol consumption.
“I had a brother, Fred. Great guy, best-looking guy, best personality, much better than mine,” Trump said during a 2018 news conference. “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).” Trump has said that his brother Fred’s struggle with addiction led him to avoid drinking and smoking entirely.
While Harris outraised Trump overall and secured donations from dozens of billionaires, the vice president got little support from corporate interests, FEC filings show. The biggest super PAC backing Harris, Future Forward, did not receive any corporate donations above $1 million, and though it did receive $1 million from cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on August 14, that appears to be a transfer of cryptocurrency donated to the PAC by Ripple CEO Christian Larsen. Geosor Corporation, a company owned by billionaire and Democratic megadonor George Soros, also put $10 million into Soros’ Democracy PAC, which sent money to super PACs that supported Harris’ campaign. Super PACs backing Harris also received some smaller amounts from companies, such as a PAC affiliated with the game Cards Against Humanity giving $159,000 to Women Vote PAC, the political committee arm of Emily’s List that helps elect female candidates. In 2016, when he was still a candidate, Trump pledged not to accept the $400,000 annual presidential salary, saying he would donate it to various federal departments and agencies.
Fred Trump Jr. died in 1981 at the age of 42, the result of a heart attack attributed to alcoholism. As a 2016 candidate, the billionaire real estate mogul pledged not to accept a salary if elected president. Trump has said his brother’s alcoholism and death deterred the president from drinking or smoking. FEC filings show RAI and Reynolds’ political PAC also gave money to numerous congressional campaigns this election cycle, focusing primarily on Republican candidates but also giving to some Democrats, like Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. Fred Jr., the firstborn son, was once seen as the likely heir to the Trump family’s real estate and construction empire.
At the time, Trump was preparing to attend a major GOP fundraiser hosted by a top Republican lobbyist for the beverage giant. Trump was “extremely put off” by Kavanaugh’s comments about drinking, Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff, said in his book “The Chief’s Chief.” During his first presidency, he was observed toasting his fellow world leaders with Diet Coke. During his second inauguration, Trump toasted his Vice President JD Vance with a glass of Diet Coke. 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.
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- The president’s older brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 at age 43 after struggling with alcohol-related problems.
- He wants consumers of the Trump brand and would-be lenders to believe he always keeps it together.
- President to serve two non-consecutive terms, Trump’s choice to abstain from alcohol remains unchanged.
- The sizable donation – which was the president’s third quarter salary of 2018 — was given to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the White House revealed.
- The industry routinely spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress.
Forbes reporters follow company ethical guidelines that ensure the highest quality. Follow her for continued coverage of Trump’s ongoing legal issues, the 2024 election and major cases at the Supreme Court. Trump previously defended Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest beer company, when some of his closest allies and supporters urged a boycott of the company in response to its brief partnership with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. There is a growing push among public-health groups for lawmakers to take a tougher approach to regulating alcohol.
The impact of Fred Jr.’s decline and early death left a lasting impression on Trump. He saw firsthand the destructive power of alcohol, not just on his brother’s life but on the physical toll it took as well. President Donald Trump has donated $100,000 of his salary to the federal agency that manages research on alcohol and alcohol-related issues.
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. Instead of alcohol, Donald Trump’s drink of choice is a Diet Coke. “Let’s say I started drinking, it’s very possible I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.” “He was so handsome, and I saw what alcohol did to him even physically… and that had an impact on me, too,” Trump had said, telling his interviewer he might not be around if he drank alcohol.