Donald Trump gave cash gifts up to $45,000 to close West Wing aides, financial disclosures show

Cash disclosures from the West Wing

President Donald Trump distributed cash gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars to four close aides working in the West Wing in December 2025. Annual financial disclosures released by the administration listed the payments under the label "Cash Gift for Holidays." Executive assistant Natalie Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin, and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris each received $45,000. Walt Nauta, the director of Oval Office operations, received $20,000 according to most filings, while one disclosure recorded $22,000.

The $45,000 sums represent roughly one-third of the $150,000 annual government salaries that Harp, Martin, and Harris receive from their federal posts. Nauta earns an annual federal salary of $175,000. Out of 91 listed White House staff members in public records, no other employees reported receiving gifts from the president.

Ethics scrutiny and legal arguments

The disclosure of personal payments to federal employees drew immediate attention from government ethics specialists. Federal statutes generally prohibit executive branch employees from accepting outside compensation or salary supplements for their government work. Richard W. Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007 under President George W. Bush, argued that the payments appeared to breach federal compensation restrictions.

A White House staffer is not your Fifth Avenue doorman.

In contrast, Don Fox, who served as acting director of the Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration, told reporters that the available facts did not definitively establish a violation of salary rules. The White House defended the legality of the transactions, describing them as personal holiday presents completely separated from official administration duties.

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.

Roles of the four aides

The four recipients represent some of the most trusted figures in Trump's inner circle. Natalie Harp, a 35-year-old former television host who joined Trump's staff in March 2022, maintains constant access to the president. She types dictations and drafts statements for Trump's Truth Social account and carries a portable printer during travel to deliver printed news articles. Walt Nauta, a US Navy veteran who previously served as a military valet and Mar-a-Lago assistant, was indicted in June 2023 in a classified documents case that was later dismissed.

Margo Martin, a 31-year-old communications adviser, regularly documents Trump's official and campaign appearances on social media. Chamberlain Harris, 26, works as an executive assistant and deputy director of Oval Office operations. Both Harp and Nauta accompanied Trump inside a catering vehicle during a secured transfer between Turkey and the United Kingdom in July.