United States President Donald Trump gave tens of thousands of dollars in cash gifts last year to four White House aides, raising questions about whether he violated federal ethics rules governing compensation for government employees. Executive assistant Natalie Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris each received $45,000, according to financial disclosures released by the administration last week. Meanwhile, Walt Nauta, the director of Oval Office operations, received $20,000. The money was labelled as “Cash Gift for Holidays”.
Federal employees are generally barred from receiving compensation beyond their government salaries, raising questions over whether the payments are permissible. The White House, however, said the gifts complied with ethics rules. “The gifts at issue here have nothing to do with any of these individuals’ official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. Ingle 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 payments were equivalent to 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. Harp and Nauta are among Trump’s closest aides, with near-constant access to the president at the White House and while travelling. Harp, for instance, 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 Trump with 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, pointing to his travels with Harp. “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie,” Ossoff said.
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, taking on roles at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort and within his political action committee. He has since returned 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.
