The National Archives can’t find a picture of Trump gifted golf clubs

News

from Victor Nava

March 18, 2023 | 12:36 am

A massive portrait and several golf clubs given to former President Donald Trump by foreign leaders while he was in office are missing, according to a report released by House Democrats on Friday.

The missing gifts are among more than 100 — worth nearly $300,000 — that Trump and his family failed to disclose as required by law, the interim report by the Democratic staff of the House Oversight Committee noted.

During its year-long investigation, the committee discovered White House emails that referred to a “larger-than-life painting” of Trump commissioned by Salvadoran President Nayib Buquele.

The artwork was delivered to the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador just before the 2020 election, and on November 19, 2020, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, notified the White House Office of Gifts and the Department of State’s Division of Diplomatic Gifts about the painting and asked for help sending it to the then president.

“There is no information about the location of the painting. [The National Archives and Records Administration] there were no records for this painting and [the General Services Administration] also had no record of the purchase of this gift,” the report said.

The report added that “some records suggest the portrait may have been moved to Florida as ‘property of the former president’ in July 2021.”

Federal law prohibits government employees from keeping personal gifts from foreign governments worth more than $415.

Gifts above this amount become US property and are held by NARA, but recipients have the option to buy them back from GSA.

The report notes that Trump’s director of correspondence during the presidential transition certified “full compliance with the final gift order” in April 2021.

Also missing are golf clubs valued at more than $7,000 that Trump received from the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, including a $3,755 gold driver he received as president-elect, a putter valued at $460 and another driver worth $3,040, according to the report.

“NARA has no records of these golf clubs and does not hold any golf clubs in its custody. GSA also does not have data on golf clubs purchased.

The committee is still working to determine the final disposition of these gifts,” House investigators found.

Oversight Committee Democrats said the undisclosed gifts raised concerns of “potential undue influence,” highlighting gifts worth $45,000 from Saudi Arabia, $47,000 from India and $3,400 from China that the Trump family did not properly report , but are now in NARA custody or bought back by the government.

Among the items Trump family members have legally bought back from the government to keep is a $24,000 dagger and scabbard given to Trump’s son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as a limited edition Steiff teddy bear gifted to the former president’s daughter and former adviser Ivanka Trump by the Chancellor of Austria.

“We were able to gather all of this through independent sources, but there could be a lot more given that none of these gifts were reported and we only found out about them through various types of investigations and accidents,” Congressman Jamie B. Raskin (D-Med.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, told the Washington Post.

Raskin declined to say whether the commission would refer the Justice Department.