The inaugural committee for President Donald Trump announced Wednesday it would donate to three charities supporting hurricane relief, marking the first such move by the committee a full eight months after Inauguration Day.
Trump raised a record-setting $107 million for his inauguration, and the inaugural committee chaired by his associate Tom Barrack, Jr., had pledged that the excess money would go to charity.
In Wednesday’s announcement obtained by CNN, Barrack said the committee would donate $3 million, evenly divided, to three charities providing relief from recent severe hurricanes that struck the southern US and Puerto Rico.
The recipients were the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Samaritan’s Purse, Barrack said in the announcement.
The move came weeks after an Associated Press story noted none of the extra money from the inaugural committee had yet gone to charity, while some went toward White House redecoration and the vice presidential residence.
Barrack said the decision to send the money toward hurricane relief was done with Trump’s encouragement.
“At this moment of immense catastrophic natural disasters in America, we are humbled to donate to three of the finest relief organizations in America,” Barrack said.
The announcement said the committee will continue to make contributions to charity following the initial $3 million.
The White House said in early September that Trump and his wife Melania would personally donate $1 million split between twelve charities for hurricane relief. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army would each receive $300,000 of that total, the White House said.