Democrats say some foreign gifts to Trump are not accounted for

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Democrats say some foreign gifts to Trump are not accounted for

ERIC TUCKER

March 17, 2023

Former President Trump’s White House has failed to report more than 100 gifts from foreign nations worth more than a quarter of a million dollars, and federal officials have been unable to locate a life-sized painting of Trump given by the president of El Salvador, as well as golf clubs owned by the Prime Minister of Japan, according to a House Democrats report on Friday.

Among the unreported items are 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia worth more than $45,000, including a dagger worth up to $24,000, and 17 gifts from India, including expensive cufflinks, a vase and a model of the Taj Mahal worth $4,600. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.

Gifts in excess of several hundred dollars that foreign officials give to the president, vice president, and their families must be reported to the State Department under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. The House Democrats report, citing State Department data, says the number of gifts reported by Trump and his family is lower than the number disclosed by previous presidents.

All told, the report says, while the Trump White House reported some gifts to the State Department between 2017 and 2019, it failed to report more than 100 foreign gifts totaling more than $250,000.

The report says federal officials have been unable to find a life-sized painting of Trump that, according to internal White House correspondence, was commissioned by the president of El Salvador and delivered to the U.S. embassy in San Salvador as a gift to Trump in 2020. According to the report, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador alerted U.S. officials to the gift and asked for help sending it.

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The report says that “there is no record of the painting’s disposition” by the National Archives and Records Administration or the General Services Administration, but that some records suggest it was moved to Florida in July 2021 as a Trump property.

Also missing are thousands of dollars in golf clubs given to Trump in 2018 and 2019 by Shinzo Abe, then the Prime Minister of Japan.

“Today’s preliminary findings again suggest that the Trump administration is blatantly flouting the rule of law and systematically mishandling large gifts from foreign governments, including many lavish personalized gifts well in excess of the legal limit in value, but which were never reported and some of which have yet to be reported. always missing.” ,” Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, top Democrat on the oversight committee, said in a statement.

He also said the commission will continue its efforts to follow the facts to determine the extent to which former President Trump broke the law or violated the Constitution when he failed to report gifts and seized valuables without paying a fair market price. pay.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately e-mail back asking for comment.

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