Trump’s support for ‘Diet Coke valet’ Walt Nauta could be short-lived: report

All indications are that Donald Trump has remained loyal to an aide who federal prosecutors have named as a co-defendant in the case against the former president over allegations he mishandled classified documents.

So far.

But how long Trump remains loyal to Walt Nauta, who by all accounts has demonstrated fierce loyalty to the former president, is an open question, Slate reports.

Nauta, a 40-year-old military veteran who earned the nickname as Trump’s “Diet Coke valet” when he served the former president in the White House, was charged last month with six counts over allegations he helped the former president move and hide classified documents and later lied to investigators about it.

Nauta pleaded not guilty to all charges Thursday at his arraignment, which had been delayed twice because he hadn’t yet secured a local attorney to represent him.

Nauta went on to serve as Trump’s executive assistant and was paid $135,000 by a pro-Trump PAC, the report said.

Trump sang Nauta’s praises in a June 9 post on the former president’s Truth Social website, writing, “I have just learned that the ‘Thugs’ from the Department of Injustice will be Indicting a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member of the U.S. Navy, who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide. He has done a fantastic job! They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump.’"

Trump added:

“He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!”

But Slate’s reporting suggests that Nauta has good reason to question how long Trump will remain in his corner.

Shirin Ali writes for Slate that, “Trump’s goodwill could be short-lived—just think of Michael Cohen, a previously staunch Trump ally whose relationship with the former president turned sour. When Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud, he told the courtroom, ‘I have been living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day I accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen that I deeply admired.’”

Read the full article here.