Report: Investigators are now tracking expensive gifts given to Trump when he was president
The Washington Post claims that government and congressional investigators are currently looking for dozens of expensive presents that foreign leaders gave to Donald Trump and his family members while he served as president and that were intended to be turned over to the National Archives.
The Post cited individuals who said congressional investigators are looking for diamond earrings, pricey golf clubs, and a $6,400 ceremonial golden medal given to Trump by Saudi King Salman in Riyadh in 2017. These are just a few of the presents they are looking for.
The gifts being monitored apparently have a combined value of almost $50,000.
The purpose behind tracking this precise list of donations was unclear. A representative for the House Oversight Committee, which started the investigation and requested assistance from the National Archives, would only confirm to the Post that the investigation is still ongoing.
Presidents and other government officials are not permitted to keep presents from foreigners for more than $415 without paying for them, according to the 1966 Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act.
Most of the gifts that foreign leaders have given to American presidents are retained in the National Archives, but some are also preserved by the General Services Administration and the park service of the Department of the Interior.
The necessary tracking and reporting of such gifts by the Trump administration was described as being in “risible shambles” by The New York Times for the first time a year ago.
The investigation into the present follows an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and resort in August, during which investigators took many boxes of papers, including top-secret and classified information that was intended to be turned over to the National Archives at the end of Trump’s term.
Several of the seized items were marked as “gifts,” albeit not much information was given. Trump, his attorneys, or any other of his officials have not responded to the Post’s report. According to a former Trump White House employee, “this president was very much on clinging onto stuff,” the Post. Gifts and mementos are important to him.
