Key information on foreign gifts to officials remains incomplete amid data gaps

The State Department has admitted it cannot produce a full and accurate record of gifts given to former President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other US officials by foreign governments during 2020 due to missing data from the White House.

According to a report set to publish in the Federal Register next week, the Executive Office of the President failed to provide information on gifts received by Trump and his family from foreign leaders, while the General Services Administration (GSA) did not supply data regarding gifts given to Pence and other White House staff during that same year.

Despite reaching out to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the GSA for the missing records, the State Department was informed that “potentially relevant records” are inaccessible due to restrictions on retired records. A partial list of gifts has been released in previous years, primarily to prevent conflicts of interest, but this year’s report reveals significant gaps.

The report highlights that oversight may have played a role, as the State Department’s Office of Protocol failed to request comprehensive gift data from all relevant agencies before Trump’s term ended on 20 January 2021. Furthermore, the report suggests inadequate recordkeeping of diplomatic gifts throughout Trump’s presidency, from his inauguration in 2017 to the end of his term.

This issue comes amid broader investigations into Trump’s post-presidency actions. House lawmakers are probing reports of Trump taking classified materials to his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office. The National Archives and Records Administration has requested that the Justice Department examine the matter.

Additionally, the House panel investigating the 6 January Capitol insurrection has identified an eight-hour gap in White House call records during the attack, with evidence suggesting key events may have been omitted.

While the 2020 gift report includes records for senior officials like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Defence Secretary Mark Esper, and former CIA Director Gina Haspel, the gaps in data mean that a complete accounting remains out of reach. The State Department has made repeated attempts to gather the data but has been stymied by the limited accessibility of relevant records.