Dems say many foreign gifts to Trump remain unaccounted for

A report from a House committee's Democrats says Donald Trump's White House has failed to report more than 100 gifts from foreign nations

United States Saudi Secrecy (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Donald Trump's White House has failed to report more than 100 gifts from foreign nations worth more than a quarter-million dollars, and federal officials have been unable to find a life-size painting of Trump given by the president of El Salvador as well as golf clubs from the prime minister of Japan, according to a report Friday from House Democrats.

Among the unreported items are 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia worth more than $45,000 in all, including a dagger valued at up to $24,000, and 17 presents from India that include expensive cufflinks, a vase and a $4,600 model of the Taj Mahal, says the report from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.

Gifts above a certain amount that foreign officials give to the president, vice president and their families are required under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act to be reported to the State Department. The report from House Democrats, citing State Department records, says the number of gifts reported by Trump and his family are lower than the number disclosed by previous presidents.

All told, the report says, though the White House did report some gifts to State between 2017 and 2019, it failed to report more than 100 foreign gifts with a total value of over a quarter-million dollars.

"Today’s preliminary findings suggest again the Trump Administration’s brazen disregard for the rule of law and its systematic mishandling of large gifts from foreign governments, including many lavish personalized gifts that vastly exceed the statutory limit in value but were never reported — some that are still missing today," Rep. Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

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

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