Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to Natalie Harp and two other aides, public records show

President Donald Trump gave sizable cash gifts to four White House staffers, including $45,000 (£33,000) to his close aide Natalie Harp, financial disclosures released by his administration show.

Two staff members got the same amount as Harp, while his longtime aide and director of Oval Office Operations, Walt Nauta, received $22,000.

No other White House staffer has declared any gifts from the president, the documents show. Federal employees are prohibited from receiving outside compensation for their duties.

The White House has described the gifts as personal in nature, unrelated to the staffers' work and legal under US law.

In a statement provided to the BBC, a White House official said that the president "has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including at times employees and aides, both in government and in his time in the private sector".

"The gifts at issue here have nothing to do with any of these individuals' official government duties, and are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards," the official added.

The cash gifts, totalling $157,000, are marked as a "cash gift for the holidays" for Nauta, Harp and two other officials: communications advisor Margo Martin and Chamberlain Harris, a White House aide who serves as Trump's executive assistant.

The White House did not answer a separate query from the BBC on why the other 91 listed staff members - including other top aides and First Lady Melania Trump's top advisors - did not receive gifts.