More than 100 foreign gifts to Donald Trump remain untraceable, say Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald 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 find a life-size painting of Trump donated by the president of El Salvador as well as the Japanese prime minister’s golf clubs, according to a report released Friday by House Democrats.

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

Gifts greater than several hundred dollars given by foreign officials to the President, Vice President, and their families must, under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, be reported to the State Department.

The House Democrats’ report, citing State Department records, says the number of gifts reported by Trump and his family is lower than the number disclosed by previous presidents.

In total, according to the report, although the White House reported some gifts to the state between 2017 and 2019, it did not report more than 100 foreign gifts with a total value of more than $250,000.

The report says federal officials were unable to locate a life-size painting of Trump that, according to internal White House correspondence, was commissioned by the president of El Salvador and delivered to the US Embassy. United States in El Salvador as a gift to Trump just before the 2020 US elections.

According to the report, the US ambassador to El Salvador alerted US officials to the gift and requested assistance in shipping it.

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

Also missing are thousands of dollars in golf clubs donated to Trump in 2017 and 2018 by Shinzo Abe, then Prime Minister of Japan.

The clubs, which the report said “include a putter valued at $460 and a driver valued at $3,040,” were donated by Abe to Trump during visits to the Trump International Golf Club and the Kasumigaseki Country Club. The report states that NARA has no registry of clubs and GSA has no registry of purchased clubs.

“Today’s preliminary findings again suggest the Trump administration’s brazen disregard for the rule of law and its systematic mismanagement of large donations from foreign governments, including many lavish personalized gifts that go way over the line. statutory in value but were never reported – some who are still missing today,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

He also said the committee “would remain committed to following 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 took possession of valuables. without paying the fair market price.”

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately return an email seeking comment.