Trump gives cash holiday gifts to four aides

President Trump gave sizable cash holiday gifts last year to four White House aides, including $45,000 each to Natalie Harp, Margo Martin and Chamberlain Harris, according to public financial disclosures released by the administration.

The disclosures also show a $20,000 gift to Walt Nauta, the director of Oval Office Operations. The payments were listed on the aides’ annual financial disclosure forms as a “cash gift for holidays.”

A White House spokesperson said Wednesday that 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 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,” the spokesperson said.

The White House official did not say whether other staff members received similar gifts, The Guardian reported. The gifts were first reported by Politico, according to CBS News; The Guardian reported that The Washington Post first reported the disclosures earlier Tuesday.

Harp, 35, is a special assistant and executive assistant to the president and is frequently seen at Trump’s side. She began working at the White House as a presidential appointee when Trump took office in January 2025. During the 2024 campaign, she became known as the “human printer” because she carried a portable printer to quickly provide Trump with favorable news coverage and social media posts. Trump often prefers to read physical copies of posts and news stories rather than view them on screens.

Harp has recently drawn public attention after Sen. Jon Ossoff said at a rally last month that Trump would rather “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” than be president. In their book “Regime Change,” New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported that Trump told staffers of Harp, “All of you will go off and make money. She’ll never leave me.”

Martin, 31, is a special assistant to the president and a communications adviser in the press office. She is a key member of the communications team and posts many curated videos of Trump to social media. Martin worked as a White House press assistant during Trump’s first administration, then continued working for him in Palm Beach, Florida, after his first term ended. She returned to the White House after Trump’s 2024 victory.

Harris, 26, is deputy director of Oval Office Operations. She previously worked in the White House Office of Administration and served as Receptionist of the United States in the final months of Trump’s first term. Harris later worked as Trump’s executive assistant while he was out of office. Earlier this year, Trump appointed her to the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency responsible for reviewing Washington-based construction projects, including the White House ballroom and a 250-foot triumphal arch.

Nauta, 43, is a Navy veteran and one of Trump’s longtime aides. He served as Trump’s “body man” and valet during the first administration and continued working for him in Florida between terms. Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira were charged in 2023 with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into classified documents taken from the White House after Trump’s first term, The Guardian reported. The charges were dismissed in 2024.

Harp, Martin and Harris each earn $150,000 annually, while Nauta is paid $175,000 a year, according to the White House salary disclosure report to Congress cited by The Guardian.