Former US leader Donald Trump and members of his family have not disclosed more than 100 gifts totaling approximately $300,000 that they received from foreign governments during the Republican presidency. This is stated in a 15-page report published on Friday by the Democrats, members of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives of Congress.
The authors of the report said they found 117 undocumented gifts in the archives received by the former head of state, former first lady Melania Trump, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, as well as Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and other family members. So, we are talking, in particular, about 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia in the amount of $45 thousand, 17 – from India (in the amount of $47 thousand), 5 – from China (in the amount of $3.4 thousand). At the same time, two gifts could not be found: “Trump’s portrait is larger than life size” from the leadership of El Salvador, as well as golf clubs worth $ 3.75 thousand from the leadership of Japan.
The report says that the former head of the Washington administration in the last year of his presidency said that he did not receive a single gift from foreign countries, in previous years he informed about some of them.
About the investigation
The investigation was launched last year. At the time, State Department officials notified committee members that Trump administration officials in the last year of his presidency “did not prioritize fulfilling obligations” to provide information about receiving gifts from foreign officials. In this regard, the Democrats in the committee of the lower house of Congress had suspicions about the “possible improper influence of foreign governments on President Trump, which could jeopardize national security and US interests in foreign policy.”
Under US law, US officials are only allowed to accept gifts from foreign governments on behalf of the administration. At the same time, if the value of the gift exceeds $415, the representatives of the administration undertake to transfer it to the ownership of the US National Archives. If the official wishes to keep the gift for himself, he has the option to pay its full value. Gift receipts must be reported to the State Department. According to the newspaper The Washington PostTrump has repeatedly told advisers that gifts received during the presidency belong to him, not to the federal government.
Last April, the Foreign Office reported that its officials were unable to compile a complete list of gifts received by the Trump administration from foreign representatives. In particular, the US Foreign Office was unable to identify the officials who received gifts from representatives of foreign governments, and did not find data on who exactly gave valuable gifts to American officials.
