Donald Trump’s gifts from world leaders include Louis Vuitton golf bag and gold-framed portrait
- State Department publishes list of items foreign governments presented to president and other US officials in 2018, including some amusing responses
- Secret Service destroyed US$5,730 clock that Crown Prince of Bahrain gave to Vice-President Mike Pence
What kind of gift would impress US President Donald Trump? For Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the answer was: a gold-framed portrait of Donald Trump.
The State Department on Monday published a list of gifts that foreign governments gave to Trump and other US officials in 2018. The report offers a snapshot of how Trump’s peers curry his favour and a sometimes amusing account of how the US government responds.
France’s Emmanuel Macron gave Trump a Louis Vuitton golf bag and some photographs valued together at US$8,275. The mayor of Davos, Switzerland, gave him a hickory golf putter (US$450). The portrait from Vietnam was valued at US$3,100. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump transferred everything they received to the National Archives, in keeping with US law.
The government treats some gifts less kindly. The Secret Service destroyed a clock that the Crown Prince of Bahrain gave to Vice-President Mike Pence, possibly out of concern it might be a secret surveillance device. Several watches given to CIA agents will meet the same fate.
Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, paid for bracelets worth US$3,185 from the queen of Jordan so they could keep them. It was the only gift Ivanka Trump received, according to the report, while Kushner transferred two other items to the archives.