Trump Gave $45,000 Cash Gifts to Aides, Raising Ethics Questions
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Trump Gave $45,000 Cash Gifts to Aides, Raising Ethics Questions
- Financial disclosure forms released last week revealed that President Donald Trump provided $45,000 cash gifts to three White House aides, with an additional $20,000 gift to a fourth aide, totaling $155,000.
- The recipients of the $45,000 gifts were executive assistant Natalie Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin, and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris, with director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta receiving $20,000, according to disclosures published on September 9, 2026.
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President Donald Trump gave cash gifts totaling $155,000 to four White House aides, according to financial disclosure forms released last week. Executive assistant Natalie Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin, and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris each received $45,000. Director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta received a $20,000 gift.
The gifts were listed as “cash gift for the holidays” on the staffers’ annual financial disclosure forms, which were published by the administration last week. Harp, Martin, and Harris each earn an annual salary of $150,000, making the $45,000 gift equivalent to approximately one-third of their yearly government salaries. Nauta’s annual salary is $175,000.
A White House official stated that President Trump has a “longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including at times employees and aides, both in government and in his time in the private sector.” The official also asserted that the cash gifts were not related to the individuals’ “official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards.”
However, the payments have drawn scrutiny from some legal experts. Richard Painter, a former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, suggested that the payments could violate a federal statute prohibiting the supplementation of federal employees’ salaries from outside sources. Federal ethics rules generally prohibit federal employees from accepting gifts of cash or cash equivalents, with limits typically under $20, and no more than $50 annually from the same donor. While federal ethics rules do not typically bar a superior from giving a personal gift to a subordinate, a federal law (Section 209 of Title 18) can be an issue if the money is tied to the employee’s government work, barring executive branch employees from receiving private money as compensation or a supplement to their federal service.