Most lavish gifts to US presidents including £1,000,000 in jewels and pandas
When it comes to the art of diplomatic gift-giving, there is one unspoken rule – keep it symbolic to the nation’s culture and history.
A painting here, a commemorative sword there. Nothing too flashy, which could raise eyebrows in Washington.
Yet, leave it to Donald Trump to contemplate on breaking that tradition and accept a Boeing 747-8, courtesy of Qatar’s Royal Family.
Worth £303 million, the aircraft could reportedly replace the aged Air Force One – but also violate bribery and corruption rules within the constitution.
To fully understand how unorthodox this gesture is, Metro has examined some of the most expensive gifts ever given to US presidents.
To begin with, the late king of Saudi Arabia presented Barack Obama with a gold and silver watch, a gold-plated brass replica of the Makkah Clock Tower, and another watch, this one white gold.
First lady Michelle Obama accepted a diamond and emerald jewellery set and a diamond and pearl jewellery set.
And Obama’s daughters Sasha and Malia a set of diamond, emerald and jewels. In total, the bling is estimated to have cost almost £1 million.
Nowhere near this price tag, but still lavish, George W Bush was gifted an emerald, ruby, and diamond encrusted, solid gold sword and dagger by a foreign shah.
In 1972, president Richard Nixon travelled to China with his wife, Patricia, who mentioned – off the cuff – her fondness for giant pandas.
As a gesture of goodwill, Chinese prime minister Zhou Enlai gifted them two giant pandas who were later transferred to Washington’s National Zoo, drawing in tens of thousands of people over the years to come.
It was reported that the two animals were worth £47 million.
Honourable mentions include an ornate desk carved out of timber from the British ship HMS Resolute, gifted by Queen Victoria to president Rutherford B Hayes; two lions to president Martin Van Buren by the Sultan of Morocco; and 300 pounds of raw lamb from Argentina to George W Bush.
Putting all these together and they would still not come even close to the cost of the Qatari jet being gifted to Trump.
The Republican told reporters on Monday: ‘I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.
‘I could be a stupid person and say, ‘”No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.”‘
Critics of the plan worry that the move threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.
Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law expert at Loyola Law School, said: ‘This is unprecedented. We just haven’t tested these boundaries before.’
Trump tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he wouldn’t fly around in the gifted Boeing 747 when his term ends.
Instead, he said, the plane would be donated to a future presidential library, similar to how the Boeing 707 used by president Ronald Reagan was decommissioned and put on display as a museum piece.
‘It would go directly to the library after I leave office,’ Trump said. ‘I wouldn’t be using it.’
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