Trump gave $45,000 in gifts to Natalie Harp and two other aides.

Donald Trump gave his ubiquitous aide Natalie Harp $45,000, which she described as a year-end gift in her latest financial statement, according to US media.

Two other aides to the US president, Margo Martin and Chamberlain Harris, received similar sums, according to the Washington Post, which was the first to report the information Tuesday evening, also picked up by CNN, Politico and the Wall Street Journal.

The White House was quick to defend the president's generosity. "The president has a long history of giving Christmas gifts to people in his circle, including sometimes employees and staff," his press office told X.

He assured that the sums paid have no connection with the "official activities" of their beneficiaries and "are therefore fully compliant with applicable legal and ethical standards."

The amounts received by Natalie Harp and her two colleagues represent a bonus of 30% of their annual salary.

The three young women are each paid $150,000 a year, according to official data submitted to Congress in early July.

Ubiquitous alongside Donald Trump, Natalie Harp was thrust into the spotlight in August when a Democratic senator, Jon Ossof, criticized this close relationship, sparking massive outrage in the presidential camp.

This 35-year-old woman is nicknamed Donald Trump's "human printer," constantly supplying him with documents and paper publications.

According to the press, she was one of the few people to have accompanied the president during the dramatic security operation in July in Turkey which saw him secretly change planes aboard a supply truck.

The White House organizational chart gives Natalie Harp the official titles of "special assistant" and "executive assistant" to the Republican leader.

Chamberlain Harris appears as "special assistant," "executive assistant" to the president, and "deputy director of Oval Office operations." Margo Martin is listed as "special assistant to the president and communications advisor."

The three women are not the only ones to have benefited from Donald Trump's largesse.

Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta also declared a $20,000 presidential gift, in addition to his $175,000 annual salary, according to the Washington Post.

This other personal assistant had been a witness and implicated in the investigation into Donald Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence after the end of his first term, the newspaper notes.

The procedure, cancelled in July 2024, was definitively abandoned after Mr. Trump's re-election in November of the same year.