Washington
You can’t be the most powerful man on Earth and not be showered with gifts, can you? The US State Department issued a list of gifts that President Trump and CIA officials received from other nations in 2018 among which included a gold-framed portrait of the US president and luxury watches. Some of these gifts, as a precautionary measure, are destroyed by the Secret Service.
To curry his favour, French President Emmanuel Macron gifted Trump a Louis Vuitton golf bag and some photographs that cost $8,275 whereas the mayor of Davos, Switzerland, gave him a golf putter valued at $450. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave Trump a gold-framed portrait valued at $3,100.
An interesting revelation in the report was that some items gifted to the American president or CIA officials are not treated kindly. For instance, the Crown Prince of Bahrain gave a clock to US Vice President Mike Pence which was destroyed by Secret Service out of fear that it was a surveillance device.
It was worth $5,730 and produced by William & Son of London and featured Bahrain’s flag. Nine watches given to CIA officials from luxury brands such as Rado and Omega were also destroyed. “Disposition – Destroyed per USSS Policy,” the report says without elaborating further.
All gifts are transferred to the National Archives, under US law. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner purchased bracelets worth $3,185 from the Queen of Jordan to keep for themselves. Kushner transferred two other items to the archives while this was the only gift that Ivanka received.
Among other items gifted to the US president are black leather boots from former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ($545); a rectangular stone block, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ($600); sterling cuff links with a purple ruby from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ($465); a FIFA World Cup collector’s box from Russian President Vladimir Putin ($1,500); a vase from Chinese President Xi Jinping ($2,100); and a marble sculpture of a beluga whale from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ($470).
Trump is in India for an official two-day visit where he added to the list of gifts received from other governments as he was given a portrait of himself with his wife Melania Trump at the Taj Mahal.—AFP
