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How Walt Nauta went from Diet Coke caddie to political insider
The aide was charged with six federal crimes alongside former President Donald Trump
The world is focused on the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, but he's not the only person who wound up in court. Trump's valet and "body man," Walt Nauta, was charged alongside his boss as a co-conspirator.
Nauta, who joined the U.S. Navy and rose through the ranks to become Trump's butler in the White House, faces six federal charges, according to the indictment. This includes conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, and more. It's alleged that Nauta "played a crucial role in the alleged scheme with Trump," The Associated Press reported, and is accused of personally packing some of the boxes that the former president took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.
Nauta is the latest in a line of Trump allies to face criminal charges. However, most of these people were close legal advisers of the former president, such as his former lawyer Michael Cohen. As Trump's valet, Nauta, at least on paper, likely had the least consequential job among those in the former president's inner circle. So how did the man who brought Trump his Diet Cokes end up sitting in a federal courtroom with him?
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Waltine 'Walt' Nauta is a native of Guam, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2001. He reached the rank of "senior chief culinary specialist" and transferred to the White House, where he served as part of the Presidential Food Service, according to a service record seen by CBS News. This is a group of sailors who run the White House Navy Mess and "provide for food service needs on the White House campus, at Camp David and when the president travels," NBC News reported.
Nauta arrived at the White House as the Trump presidency was beginning and was chosen to serve as one of Trump's military valets. As his aide, Nauta became extremely close to Trump and coordinated "his personal needs like meals in the Oval Office and organizing his clothing for travel," NBC reported. In this role, Nauta performed a wide range of tasks for Trump and "served as a kind of gofer," sources told The Washington Post, "fetching any items the president might need throughout the day," and Trump "trusted him completely." Nauta was the person who responded when Trump pressed a call button on his Oval Office desk that the former president would frequently use to request Diet Cokes, the Post reported.
Following Trump's exit from the White House, Nauta joined him at his private home in Mar-a-Lago. He was "the only White House valet who followed Trump," New York magazine reported. Nauta "left the military and returned to work for Trump as a civilian in September 2021," New York added, and the Post reported that he now makes more than $120,000 per year as Trump's personal aide.
Criminal troubles
The indictment against Nauta alleges that as Trump's aide, he played a large role in obstructing the FBI's investigation into classified documents kept by Trump after leaving the presidency. This allegedly began before Trump departed the White House, when the then-president's staff, including Nauta, "packed items, including some of Trump's boxes," which allegedly contained hundreds of classified documents. These boxes were then transported to Mar-a-Lago, the indictment alleged.
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When the FBI served Trump a subpoena demanding the return of these documents, Trump directed Nauta to take several steps to "obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal [Trump's] continued retention" of the documents, according to the indictment. Trump even ordered Nauta to conceal the documents from his lawyers, USA Today reported.
The FBI circled Nauta quickly, the AP reported, with "agents grilling him about the movement of boxes inside Mar-a-Lago weeks before serving their search warrant at the property." However, when asked about the location of the boxes, Nauta allegedly replied, "I wish I could tell you. I don't know. I don't — I honestly just don't know," according to the AP.
Nauta is facing up to 90 years in prison if convicted. Trump called Nauta "a wonderful man" in a post on Truth Social, calling him "strong, brave and a great patriot!"
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
