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White House spokesman Sean Spicer hands Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, left, the first quarter check of US President Donald Trump's salary which he donated to the National Park Service.NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP / Getty Images

President Donald Trump is donating the first three months of his salary to the National Park Service.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer handed an oversized check for $78,333.32 to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke during Monday's briefing.

The billionaire businessman turned president had promised to forgo his presidential salary. By law he must be paid, so he is donating the money.

Zinke says he's "thrilled" at the president's decision to give money to an Interior agency, something he says Trump informed him about Sunday night. He says he will use the money to help on long-deferred maintenance projects on the nation's 25 battlefields.

Trump's has proposed cutting $120 million — or 12 per cent — from the Interior Department's budget.

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