Trump gave $45 in cash to Natalie Harp and two other close aides: that's a third of their annual salaries.

President Donald Trump gave $45 in cash each to his executive assistant, Natalie Harp, and two other young White House staffers who are part of his inner circle, according to financial disclosures released by the administration. The Washington Post.

In documents released late last week, all three employees described these payments as "holiday cash gifts." The amounts represent approximately a third of their $150 annual salaries, according to the White House's annual report to Congress.

Richard Painter, a former top White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush and a Trump critic, said the payments appeared to violate federal law prohibiting supplements to government employee salaries from outside sources.

On the subject: Natalie Harp: What we know about Trump's close aide who rides in the trunk of his car just to be with the president

"He's obviously trying to make it financially easier for them to serve in the White House," Painter said. "That's not the way to do it."

A White House spokesman denied allegations of wrongdoing.

"The President has a long history of giving Christmas gifts to people within his circle, including staff and aides, not only while serving in government but also in the private sector," said White House Press Secretary Davis Ingle. "These gifts are not related to official duties. They fully comply with applicable legal and ethical standards."

Harp, 35, who is almost constantly at Trump's side, has been nicknamed the "human printer" in the White House: she carries a portable device and prints out news and social media posts for the president.

The spotlight on her intensified after it emerged last month that she was part of a small group of staffers who accompanied Trump in a catering van as he went undercover to another plane to secretly leave Turkey after reports of a possible assassination threat from Iran.

A few days after this publication, Senator Jon Ossoff, at a campaign event, said that Trump prefers to "travel with Natalie on their apparently unprotected flying palace," referring to the jet gifted to him by the Qatari royal family, and accused the president of neglecting his duties. This statement provoked a sharp response from the White House and conservative media, and further intensified the focus on Harp.

Trump also gave $45 to Margo Martin, a 31-year-old communications adviser who frequently works close to the president (closer than Secret Service members) to film his daily activities for social media. Chamberlain Harris, a 26-year-old White House staffer who serves as assistant to the president, also received a gift. In February, Trump appointed Harris to the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, which oversees, among other things, the White House Ballroom project and other construction projects in Washington.

Oval Office Director Walt Nauta reported a gift from the president of $20 on his income tax return. His annual salary was $175. Nauta also accompanied Trump to Turkey in the same van. During Trump's first term, he served as his personal assistant and became a key witness and co-defendant in the Justice Department's investigation into the storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. In 2024, a judge dismissed the case, ruling that Special Counsel Jack Smith had been appointed improperly.

There are no other public instances of US presidents handing over large sums of cash to White House staff. Government ethics experts have stated that they are unaware of similar payments of this magnitude from a leader to a subordinate.

According to Painter, experts are usually concerned about situations where a company where a civil servant previously worked tries to pay them extra to compensate for their lower income in the civil service.

If an employer gives a holiday gift to someone working in his home, it is considered part of the income, he added.

"These aren't tips for the doorman on Fifth Avenue," he remarked. "These are U.S. government employees. If you want a tipped job, you shouldn't be in government service."

According to the law, both the payer and the recipient of the additional income are liable. The US Department of Justice under Trump may not enforce this law, but the statute of limitations is five years, and Trump's presidential term ends in just over two years.

Federal employees are also limited in the gifts they can give and accept to ensure that government decisions remain impartial.

Don Fox, former acting director of the Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration, stated that the available evidence does not conclusively indicate that the payments violate the ban on gratuities. He argued that it would clearly be a violation if Trump had made such gifts after the employee announced their intention to leave for the private sector due to low pay, thereby compensating for the difference in income.

There are rules limiting gifts from subordinates to management, as they can be used to gain favor. However, large payments from a superior to a subordinate are "a situation that the Office of Government Ethics has barely considered," Fox explained. "It just doesn't happen."

He added that the most expensive gift he ever received as a federal employee from a supervisor was a fruit basket for the holidays.

Even if there is no formal violation, such payments remain "questionable," Fox said, because they could put employees in a dependent position.

“I would feel extremely awkward and somewhat obligated to the person who gave me such a large gift,” he admitted.

Harp, Martin, Harris, and Nauta have been associated with Trump since his first term and were part of the inner circle of staffers who worked with him in Florida between his two presidencies. Harp, Martin, and Harris have little experience working outside of Trump-affiliated structures.

Harp gained notoriety in 2019 after posting on LinkedIn that a law signed by Trump in 2018, expanding access to experimental treatments, saved her life after being diagnosed with stage 2 bone cancer. Medical experts questioned these claims. In 2020, Harp spoke at the Republican National Convention. As an anchor for One America News, she actively supported Trump's claims that he had won the 2020 election. In 2022, she left the network and began working for Trump.

Martin joined the White House in 2019 as assistant to the chief of press service and continued to work with Trump after Joe Biden's inauguration, serving as his acting press secretary. Harris began her White House career and earned the nickname "the front office administrator of the United States" during Trump's first term.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

Nauta, originally from Guam, joined the U.S. Navy in 2001. According to military records, he rose to the rank of senior chief culinary specialist by 2021. During this time, Guam worked in the White House, where Trump appointed him as his personal assistant. Such assistants, often referred to as "body men," are with the president almost constantly and provide him with everything he needs, from meals to his schedule.

All declarations indicate that these employees had no income or assets from their spouses.

Read also on ForumDaily:

White House staffers are required to be on call 24/7 and spend huge amounts of money to look perfect.

The Pentagon is secretly building a troll army of right-wing influencers with large followings.

Russia is organizing information operations and provocations in Europe.

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.