Donald Trump faces inquiry as foreign gifts ‘go missing’

Former US president Donald Trump is facing an inquiry after the Washington authorities have learned some pricey foreign gifts are not tracked properly.

Democratic lawmakers have opened a probe into whether the Trump Administration properly tracked the gifts it received from foreign governments, following reports that Trump-era gift records are incomplete and at least two pricey foreign gifts are unaccounted for.

In a letter released Tuesday, House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney asked the National Records and Archives Administration to hand over any communications on foreign gifts from the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The letter said that the Committee was informed by the State Department that "Trump administration did not prioritise this obligation and failed to comply with the law that governs foreign gift reporting during President Trump's final year in office."

"As a result, the foreign sources and monetary value of gifts President Trump received remain unknown," it adds.

Maloney noted the State Department never got a list of the gifts received in 2020 by the Trump-era White House, even though foreign countries like India and Switzerland appeared to give presents to Trump that year, according to the New York Times.

Maloney said the investigation could also help lawmakers figure out whether stronger laws on recordkeeping are needed.

Observers pointed out that despite repeated requests, the former premier has failed to furnish details of the gifts he had received from foreign dignitaries.

"For example, during President Trump's visit to India in February 2020, he received a bust of Mahatma Gandhi, a marble replica of Gandhi's 'Three Monkeys' statue, and a spinning wheel, among other gifts," the letter says.

Traditionally, the gifts a president receives on a foreign trip and the gifts for the secretary of state are eventually given to the State Department to be stored in a gift vault before the gifts go to GSA if they are worth over $415.

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