India, Sept. 9 -- The White House has defended President Donald Trump's decision to give three senior aides $45,000 each as holiday gifts, saying the payments were personal and unrelated to their official government duties.

Financial disclosures filed by the aides show that Natalie Harp, Chamberlain Harris, and Margo Martin each received $45,000 from Trump.

The three payments totaled $135,000 and came on top of each aide's $150,000 annual taxpayer-funded salary, according to publicly disclosed White House documents.

The disclosures identify Trump as the source of the payments and describe each as a "cash gift for the holidays." The filings were made under federal public financial disclosure requirements.

A White House spokesperson def...