Two gifts to the Trump family from foreign countries are missing, the report said

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Federal officials have been unable to locate two gifts that President Donald Trump and his family received from foreign countries, including a life-size painting of Trump from the president of El Salvador and golf clubs from the prime minister of Japan, according to a new report from House Democrats.

The gifts were among more than 100 foreign gifts — totaling nearly $300,000 — that Trump and his family failed to report to the State Department in violation of federal law, according to the report, citing records. government and emails.

The 15-page report, a result of a year-long investigation by the House Oversight Committee into Trump’s failure to disclose gifts from foreign government officials while in office, revealed that the Trump family failed to disclose dozens of gifts from countries that are not US allies or have a complicated relationship with Washington. These include 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia worth more than $48,000, 17 gifts from India worth more than $17,000, and at least five gifts from China. Trump reported zero gifts in the last year of his presidency, according to the report, while he reported some of the gifts received in previous years.

Trump repeatedly told advisers that gifts given to him during the presidency were his and did not belong to the federal government, former chief of staff John F. Kelly and other aides said in The Washington Post.

Investigators continue to search for a large portrait of Trump given to him ahead of the 2020 election by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and golf clubs valued at more than $7,000 that Trump received from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during visits at Trump International Golf Club and Kasumigaseki Country Club in 2017 and 2018, the report said.

Most of the more than 100 gifts identified by the committee are in the custody of the National Archives or the federal government, though they have not been reported to the State Department. It’s unclear how many of the gifts were returned before Trump left office and after, officials said.

The incomplete accounting practices uncovered by House investigators were based on a review of presidential records, so any gifts to the Trump family that are not noted in written communications by administration officials could still be outstanding. Republicans do not appear to have participated in the investigation, which began while Democrats controlled the House.

“We were able to piece it all together through independent sources, but there could be more because none of these gifts were reported and we only found out about them through various types of investigative work and accident,” said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, declined to comment on whether the committee would make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice.

Email correspondence between Trump White House officials reviewed by The Post shows a bare accounting of items given to Trump. In an email exchange, the White House Counsel’s Office misguided White House staff on the accounting process for foreign gifts.

The report also raises concerns about whether unreported gifts may have been used by foreign governments to influence US policy positions toward those countries. A letter provided to the State Department from Raskin on Friday requested documents and communications related to foreign gifts and Trump and his family, including “any reference to the effects on US foreign policy.”

Without addressing the remaining items, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung released a statement attacking Raskin and the National Archives, saying the agency was aware that “many items were received before or after the administration.”

Typically, the White House Gifts Unit records all domestic and foreign gifts and their valuations received by the president and first family. If an official wishes to keep a gift, they have the option of paying the full amount, as outlined under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. The 1966 law prohibits officials from personally keeping gifts from foreign entities worth more than $415.

Otherwise, the gift will be transferred to the Archives, where it will be stored for use in the presidential libraries. Gifts for the White House residence are referred to the park service of the Department of the Interior, and gifts not sent to the Archives, or not personally retained by the president or his family, are sent to the General Services Administration. Luke Niederhelman served as director of the White House gift office under Trump and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Separately, the Office of Protocol at the State Department publishes an annual list of all gifts from a foreign government to a federal employee. The State Department disclosed in 2021 that because Trump White House officials failed to provide a list of foreign gifts Trump received before leaving office, the department did not have the necessary data to compile a complete report in 2020.

The Post first reported in the fall that investigators were seeking help from the National Archives to locate dozens of expensive mementos gifted to Trump and his family.

Email correspondence included in the committee’s report shows that then-Deputy White House Counsel Scott Gast improperly advised Molly Michael, Trump’s executive assistant, who asked about required disclosures and payments for gift in January 2021, that “no disclosure is required for any gifts purchased with personal funds.”

“While this is accurate for domestic gifts, Mr. Gast failed to specify that all foreign gifts of minimum value are required to be reported, regardless of disposition,” the investigators wrote.

Gast did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The committee’s effort to monitor Trump’s image serves as a snapshot of the disorganization within the Trump administration’s gift accounting practices.

In November 2020, the US ambassador to El Salvador emailed Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, Avi Berkowitz, to inform him that President Nayib Bukele had delivered a painting to the residence that needed send to Trump.

“President Bukele contracted the same Salvadoran artist who completed his portrait for the Presidential House here,” Ambassador Ronald Johnson wrote in an email featuring photos of himself flashing a thumbs up next to the large painting. “It took the artist 6 months to complete the painting, and the attention to detail is truly amazing (see some close-up examples below).”

The email was forwarded directly to Kushner, who then asked his assistant Cassidy Dumbauld to “take care of it,” saying the painting was “very beautiful.” Dumbauld replied that day that the painting was scheduled to be delivered to the White House. The investigators, however, state in the report that there are no records to account for the gift, and that neither the National Archives nor the General Services Administration have records for the purchase of the painting.

“ … despite GSA transfer documents stating that the Director of Correspondence for the Office of Donald Trump certified ‘full compliance with the final disposition of gifts’ in April 2021, some records suggest that the photo may transferred to Florida’ as the property of the former President in July 2021,” the investigators concluded.

A spokesman for the National Archives said it cooperated with the report but declined to comment on its findings.

Ethics experts say the issues reflect a broader problem with the implementation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause that requires the president to ask Congress for permission to accept a gift from a foreigner.

“If someone accepts a gift that you’re not allowed to receive under the Constitution or government ethics rules, it’s not criminal,” said Richard Painter, the White House’s chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. “But if anyone knowingly lied on gift disclosure forms, that’s a violation of the false statement laws and that should be referred to the Department of Justice.”

The committee’s findings show wide discrepancies in the formal accounting of gifts. For example, the State Department’s Federal Register Listing reported that the Trump family received 10 gifts from Saudi Arabia in 2017, two gifts from the country in 2018, zero gifts in 2019 and one gift in 2020. But the committee noted 16 additional gifts from Saudi Arabia went unreported, worth more than $45,000 in total.

Kushner, who benefited financially from the close relationship he developed with the Saudis during the Trump presidency, bought and kept five unreported gifts from the Saudis, according to GSA records obtained by the committee, including a $24,000 dagger and sheath given to him by Mohammed bin Salman and two sword sets worth $8,800.

Raskin recently renewed a document request related to Kushner’s investment company, which has raised $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, as part of an ongoing investigation into Kushner’s ties to the U.S. government. Saudi.

A spokesman for Kushner declined to comment.

While there are no records of Trump personally purchasing any of the foreign gifts he received, other family members have purchased gifts legally. Correspondence obtained by committee investigators showed that at least one member of the Trump family sought to cover up the acquisition.

At one point, Melania Trump sought to “recall NARA diamond earrings provided by the Czech Republic, valued at $470, but wished to avoid public disclosure of the item,” investigators wrote. “The note stated: “RECALL FROM NARA (FLOTUS prefers not to disclose any items publicly [sic]BUY?’”

Ivanka Trump has also been showered with gifts throughout her time as a senior adviser to her father and received items including a mother-of-pearl mosaic portrait of her from Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in 2017, and a $2,450 chunky gold bracelet from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020. Kushner, Ivanka Trump and their children received 33 unreported gifts in total, worth more than $80,000, House investigators found.

He bought several items to keep, including a $1,200 Steiff “blond mohair” teddy bear wearing a red and white jacket with gold trim that was gifted by former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz in 2019, according to the report.

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