White House says Trump will donate $1 million to hurricane aid

— -- President Donald Trump plans to donate $1 million to aid efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday.

"I'm happy to tell you that he … would like to join in the efforts that a lot of the people that we've seen across this country do and he's pledging $1 million of personal money to the fund," said Sanders, who then told reporters at the briefing room that Trump was interested in their suggestions on where to direct the donation.

Former press secretary Sean Spicer made a similar statement in March in response to questions about where Trump would be donating his $400,000 salary after the president originally pledged not to receive compensation. Trump ultimately chose to give the funds to the National Park Service and U.S. Department of Education over the first half of the year after the White House said he was required to receive payment.

Gulf Coast residents struggle to recover after Hurricane Harvey

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Members of First Baptist Church of Loeb chain saw pews and clean up the church on U.S. 69 that had eight feet of water in it due to Hurricane Harvey flooding in Lumberton, Texas, Sept. 7, 2017.

Bob Daemmrich/Polaris

Despite controversy throughout his presidential campaign over Trump's history of charitable giving, Sanders said Tuesday that he would be making the donation to those in the region affected by Harvey with pride.

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"He'll pledge, proudly, $1 million of his own personal money to help the people of both Texas and Louisiana," she said.