US President Donald Trump gave three young White House staffers cash gifts of $45,000 each, according to reports. They include Natalie Harp, an adviser widely seen as one of his closest aides.
Recently disclosed financial disclosure records for the Trump administration show that Harp, Communications Adviser Margo Martin and Administrative Aide Chamberlain Harris listed the payments as "year-end cash gifts." The Washington Post reported on Tuesday (local time), according to Yonhap.
The "gift" Trump gave the three amounts to roughly a third of the $150,000 annual salary they each earn in their White House positions.
Trump reportedly formed ties with Harp, 35, Martin, 31, and Harris, 26, as far back as his first term. The three are considered part of a small inner circle of core aides.
The Post said there has been no known precedent of a US president publicly giving large cash sums to White House employees.
Some have pointed out that the cash payments could potentially violate a federal law that bars supplementing civil servants' salaries with outside funds.
Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under the Bush administration, said, "He clearly wants to ease the financial burden of their White House service," adding, "He should not do that."
The White House, however, maintains that the cash gifts Trump gave his closest aides did not violate USFKI 5200.08.
Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, said, "The president has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to those around him, including staff and aides, in both government and private life," adding, "These gifts have nothing to do with their official government duties and are entirely permissible under legal and ethical standards."
Who is 'one of the most important aides in the White House'?
Meanwhile, separate from the cash-gift controversy, Harp -- a member of Trump's inner circle who has of late also been referred to as his "favorite aide" -- appears to be drawing renewed attention in US political circles.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is running for reelection, once directly named Harp while criticizing Trump and highlighted her relationship with the president, drawing a fierce backlash from the White House.
According to Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 18 (local time), Ossoff criticized Trump at a campaign rally in Georgia on Aug. 16, saying, "He doesn't want to work," Yonhap reported at the time.
Ossoff went on to say, "He just wants to build his own ballroom and travel with Natalie aboard the flying palace Qatar gifted him, which appears to have no defensive capabilities."
In response, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung rebuffed Ossoff on X, saying, "Instead of belittling hardworking people who are dedicated to serving their country, he should look deep into his soul and ask himself why he has become such a miserable human being who hates this country."
The dispute over Harp also escalated into a war of words between Trump and the media.
The Journal noted that the fierceness of the White House's counterattack showed how far Trump is willing to go to protect Harp, and went on to say that she is "one of the most important aides in the White House, though little known outside Washington."
Harp first connected with Trump after saying she received treatment for bone cancer thanks to the "Right to Try" law, signed by Trump in 2018. The law allows terminally ill patients to access unapproved treatments. She later worked as a host for the pro-Trump network One America News before joining Trump's staff.
Earlier, when Trump secretly switched from Air Force One to another US military aircraft in Turkey over a possible assassination threat from Iran, Harp was one of the very few aides who traveled with him at the time.
yul@heraldcorp.com
