Maybe we paid him, maybe we didn’t. If he says he didn’t get a paycheck, that’s almost enough proof on its own that he did.
Regardless of that, he stole far more than he would’ve been paid. He violated the emoluments clause repeatedly. Secret service were required to stay in his hotels on the taxpayer dime - that’s just one example I can think of off the top of my head. Then there was the Goya thing, another example in an entire sea of them. This piece of shit used the presidency to make money off the backs of the entire country.
Refusing to worship this asshole is not the same as crucifying him, even metaphorically.