Donald Trump takes loyal valet Walt Nauta on his plane to Iowa campaign event in solidarity, a day after they both face new charges in the Mar-a-Lago documents case
Former President Donald Trump showed solidarity with his close aide Walter Nauta on Friday, taking him to a campaign event in Iowa, a day after both were the subject of new charges in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
The twist raises the stakes for the presidential frontrunner as evidence of a cover-up mounts.
But he shrugged to appear with 12 other candidates at the Iowa Republican Party Lincoln Dinner, a key part of the election calendar.
After his 10-minute speech, he shook hands with supporters and posed for photos in a convention center suite.
A few feet away, Nauta, a 40-year-old Marine veteran, watched.
Walt Nauta watched as Donald Trump greeted supporters Friday night. He traveled to Iowa with the former president a day after they received new charges in the documents case
The former president conferred with Nauta in the very public setting of a meet-and-greet
Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to five charges, including conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice, concealment of a document and conspiracy to conceal a material fact in a federal investigation.
Court papers claimed he was caught on surveillance video moving boxes of files from a storage unit before and after the Justice Department ordered the return of documents in May last year.
On Thursday, the case was expanded in a sensational way.
A new indictment filed more charges against Trump and Nauta, suing a Mar-a-Lago property manager
Prosecutor Jack Smith has filed two more charges of obstruction against Nauta.
Trump addressed the twist in an interview Friday morning, condemning Smith and his team.
“These people are sick. What they are doing is absolutely abominable,” he told conservative radio host John Fredericks.
“They’re trying to intimidate people so that people will make up lies about me because I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said.
They were in Des Moines where Trump and his 12 rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination gave 10-minute stump speeches to party members
Nauta is Trump’s valet and occasional golf partner. He appeared in federal court in Miami earlier this month to deny six charges related to Trump’s handling of classified documents
Nauta worked for Trump in the White House, sometimes getting his Diet Coke, then followed him outside his office to work for him at Mar-A-Lago
Trump aide Walt Nauta is seen leaving his arraignment in Miami, Florida, on July 6
He then defended Nauta and De Oliveira.
“These are two great employees,” he said. “They’ve been with me for a long time and they’re wonderful people and they want to destroy their lives.”
Despite the allegations, Nauta has remained on Trump’s team and continues to travel on the former president’s plane.
While he was often with Trump during his tumultuous tenure in the White House, he went under the radar and kept to himself.
What he was known for was fetching the former president’s Diet Cokes—sometimes at the touch of a button—and preparing his meals.
Many aides left Trump’s job after the Jan. 6, 2021, violence. But Nauta was among a small group who left for Mar-a-Lago three weeks later to build the former president’s new office.
During an interview with the Washington Post in March, his family called him a “good boy.”
“He’s not a problem kid. He’s there to enjoy his life, not to cause trouble.’
Nauta was charged in the original prosecution and pleaded guilty in Miami earlier this month
Nauta, the ex-president’s right-hand man and longtime White House golf partner, also deals with the charges in the Mar-a-Lago secret documents case
While other Trump aides fled in the aftermath of Jan. 6, Nauta stayed by his side and joined him as a personal assistant at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
His mother Pauline said a testament to his personality was the fact that he was selected to work alongside Trump in the first place.
Now he is embroiled in one of the largest cases in the history of the Justice Department.
His aunt Elly Nauta told De Post that everything he did was “at the direction of the former president.”
“All he was told was to put the boxes where they were supposed to be,” she added.
Born in Guam, Nauta enlisted in the Navy in 2001. He would become Senior Chief Culinary Specialist and then went on to work in the cafeteria of the White House under Trump.
Trump promoted him to his military aide. He essentially became his servant or “body man.”