President Donald Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to three senior White House aides for the holidays, according to newly filed financial disclosures. The payments were reported by Natalie Harp, Margo Martin, and Chamberlain Harris, each of whom listed Trump as the source in their annual public financial disclosure forms. The gifts totaled $135,000, in addition to their $150,000 taxpayer-funded annual salaries.
The disclosures, filed under federal public financial disclosure requirements, describe the payments as “cash gift for the holidays.” Harp and Martin listed Trump’s location as Palm Beach, Florida, while Harris listed Washington, D.C. as the origin of the gift. A fourth aide, Walt Nauta, received a $20,000 gift, according to the disclosures.
Who received the gifts
- Natalie Harp: A special assistant and executive assistant to Trump, Harp is frequently at his side and has been nicknamed “the human printer” for her role in printing articles and social media posts for him.
- Margo Martin: Communications adviser who frequently travels with the president and records videos of his public appearances.
- Chamberlain Harris: Deputy director of Oval Office operations and an executive assistant to the president. Harris was also appointed to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel overseeing architectural and design decisions in Washington, including Trump’s proposed White House ballroom project.
White House response
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that Trump “has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit,” including employees and aides during both his government and private sector tenure. The official emphasized that the gifts “have nothing to do with any of these individuals’ official government duties.”
The White House Press Office also posted a statement to X (formerly Twitter), calling the payments “entirely permissible” under federal law and ethics rules. The statement noted that Trump’s practice of giving holiday gifts has been consistent throughout his career.
Ethical and legal scrutiny
The payments have drawn scrutiny from government ethics experts. Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told The Washington Post that the gifts could violate a federal law prohibiting outside payments from supplementing the salaries of federal employees. Painter, a known critic of Trump, argued that the payments may constitute an improper benefit.
The disclosures were published last week as part of the staffers’ annual financial reporting requirements. The aides’ salaries are publicly disclosed in White House salary reports to Congress, with Harp, Martin, and Harris each earning $150,000 annually and Nauta earning $175,000 annually.