$45,000 in Cash: The Unconventional Holiday Gift Trump Gave to Female White House Staffers

U.S. President Donald Trump awarded cash grants of $45,000 to his senior aide Natalie Harp and two other female White House employees, aged 26 and 31. The forms described the payments as a 'holiday cash gift'. The gift amount reaches about one-third of the employees' annual salary of $150,000. Former White House Chief Ethics Counsel Richard Painter said the payments appear to violate federal law.

U.S. President Donald Trump awarded cash grants of $45,000 to his senior aide Natalie Harp and two other female White House employees, according to financial reports released by the administration. The forms described the payments as a 'holiday cash gift'. The gift amount awarded reaches about one-third of the employees' salary - $150,000 each - for their White House roles, according to an annual report submitted to Congress. In addition to Harp, Trump awarded $45,000 to Margo Martin, a 31-year-old communications advisor whose duties include documenting the president's activity on social media, and to Chamberlain Harris, a 26-year-old assistant who serves as Trump's executive assistant. Richard Painter, former White House Chief Ethics Counsel under President George W. Bush and a Trump critic, said the payments appear to violate a federal law prohibiting supplementing the salaries of federal employees from outside sources.