MADRID, 18 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former president of the United States, Donald Trump, did not correctly declare hundreds of gifts worth nearly 300,000 dollars (279,000 euros) that foreign governments gave him and his family during his four years in the White House, according to a report presented by Democratic members of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the US House of Representatives.
According to this report, the gifts came from various leaders, including the president of China, Xi Jinping, and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salmán, including, among other gifts, a life-size painting of Trump commissioned by El Salvador. , who could currently be at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, according to CNN, which has had access to the document.
Democrats have raised questions about “why former President Donald Trump failed to inform the public of these gifts,” including 17 objects from Saudi Arabia, suggesting it could be a way to influence US foreign policy through favors.
Last year, the State Department reported that there was evidence that some gifts had not been reported, but this report increases the economic value and number of these gifts, also detailing the States from which they came, highlighting Saudi Arabia, China , India and Japan.
The US Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act prohibits the president and his workers from keeping gifts of a value greater than 415 dollars (385 euros), but allows the purchase of objects with a higher value, obliging in any case to publicly report them .
Among the objects that the Democrats denounce were not declared are numerous gifts that exceed the amount imposed by law, including a silk carpet from Uzbekistan for 12,000 dollars (11,160 euros) or a dagger for 35,000 dollars (32,550 euros) from the Emir of Qatar.
FOLLOWING IN THE TRAIL OF BOLSONARO
This March it was learned that the former president of Brazil and Trump ally, Jair Bolsonaro, also did not declare numerous gifts from foreign governments, specifically a series of jewels from Saudi Arabia, worth at least 16.5 million Brazilian reais. (almost three million euros).
This week, the Union Court of Accounts (TCU) gave Bolsonaro a maximum of five days to deliver the chest in his possession, as well as a set of firearms, also courtesy of the Saudi monarchy. An order has also been given to the Department of Special Income –Federal Revenue–, a secretariat of the Ministry of Economy, to deliver the set of jewels that they keep blocked.
Meanwhile, the defense of the former Brazilian president demands access to information about the judicial investigation, something that the Federal Police refuses to do at the moment.