According to bombshell financial disclosure statements first reported on by The Washington Post, Donald Trump gifted his plaything 5-figures worth of play money in a move that likely violated a litany of ethical rules and laws that he apparently doesn't believe himself beholden to.
Tucked away in the annual executive branch disclosure forms released by the White House was the revelation that sitting US President Donald Trump gifted Natalie Harp, as well as two other young female aides, $45,000 each as a "cash gift for the holidays." All three of the women are between the ages of 26 and 35.
Publicly disclosed White House documents have confirmed that Harp -- as well as the two other aides who found themselves financially blessed by the 80-year-old big guy: Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations Chamberlain Harris and Communications Adviser Margo Martin -- already rake in an annual salary of $150,000 for their Trump White House positions.
"A White House staffer is not your Fifth Avenue doorman," former Bush-Era White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter wrote in a fiery takedown of Trump's cash gifts on X.
"The salary is what it is. Full stop," he wrote, pointing to a federal statute that strictly prohibits federal employees from receiving any "supplementation of salary."
A White House staffer is not your Fifth Avenue doorman. No tipping, and no holiday gifts from a current boss or former employer. The salary is what it is. Full stop.https://t.co/JAB77g2pEI
But don't fret, guys! The Truth White House said it's perfectly fine; Donald has been doing this for years.
In a screen-captured statement posted on the White House Press Office X account, the Trump White House said: "The President 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 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."
Barbara McQuade, whose long list of qualifications to speak on this topic includes serving as a University of Michigan law professor, an MSNow legal analyst, and former United States attorney, said "No dice."
Writing on BlueSky, McQuade said, "Trump‘s cash gifts to government employees, violate ethics rules, which exist to promote loyalty to the United States over loyalty to one person. He doesn’t get to break the law just because cash bonuses were 'his longtime practice' in the private sector."
Trump‘s cash gifts to government employees, violate ethics rules, which exist to promote loyalty to the United States over loyalty to one person. He doesn’t get to break the law just because cash bonuses were “his longtime practice” in the private sector. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump's disturbing relationship with Harp, specifically, has come under intense fire and scrutiny in recent weeks, after Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff invoked the bizarre aide in a now-viral speech against Trump.
We have since learned that Natalie's maintains the type of obsession with the president that they make horror movies about -- making this whole situation that much more unsettling.
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