Walt Nauta, Trump’s Valet, Charged Alongside His Boss

A lawyer for Nauta declined to comment on the charges.

After years of maintaining a low profile while working in the White House, Nauta early on became a focus of the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort. Now, that scrutiny is likely to intensify as the indictment ramps up pressure on Nauta to cooperate against the former president.

Nauta, who hails from Guam, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 2001, according to his service record. For years, he crisscrossed the country, serving with a strike fighter squadron in California and at a submarine base in Georgia among others before joining the Presidential Food Service—part of the White House Military Office—as a culinary specialist in 2012.

As a military valet in the White House, Nauta was professional and largely kept to himself, former aides said. His job was logistical, not political. He was regularly the aide who fetched Trump his often-requested Diet Cokes. He frequently traveled with Trump and handled meals, personal needs, luggage and sometimes documents for the former president. Political and policy matters weren’t under his purview.

After Trump left office, Nauta accompanied him to Mar-a-Lago, where he transitioned from military valet to personal aide. In August 2021, he was put on the payroll of Trump’s political-action committee, Save America, which paid him $176,000 over the next year and a half, according to campaign-finance records. He retired from the Navy in September 2021, according to his service record. After Trump formally began his presidential run in November 2022, Nauta was added to his campaign payroll.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said Nauta had done a “fantastic job” and called him “strong, brave, and a Great Patriot.” 

Nauta was seen on surveillance footage moving boxes from a storage room before and after investigators issued a May 2022 subpoena seeking the return of all government documents in Trump’s possession, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Nauta told investigators he did so at Trump’s request.

He spoke with investigators at least twice before declining further questioning, out of concerns about whether prosecutors were considering charges against him.

In May 2021, Trump directed employees to put boxes in a storage room that was near the liquor supply closet and linen room, according to the indictment. In December, Nauta found some of the documents spilled onto the floor, including one with classification markings, and sent a colleague photos of the mess, according to the indictment, which includes one of the photos. 

When investigators asked Nauta about the movement of the boxes, he told them, “I don’t know. I don’t—I honestly just don’t know.” Prosecutors say that was false.

—Gordon Lubold contributed to this article.

Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at [email protected]

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