In the course of two years, President Joe Biden gave his famous aviator sunglasses 57 days to world leaders, a Thai tyrant a$ 2, 310 hand-blown glass bowl, and distributed set soccer balls worth thousands of dollars to others.
While it is common for U. S. leaders to offer items on another world leaders when they visit, travel overseas, or enter a mountain, some of the tokens reported have raised eyebrows, including , presents to , heads of state who have been accused of human rights abuses. President ‘ ladies and other political partners received lavish gifts in addition.
There were also a dozen head-scratchers, for as , a set of five custom-made set dog collars and leashes presented to the family of South Korea ‘s , President Yoon Suk-yeol, costing$ 1, 109.
Here are a few of the notables:
President Joe Biden
Of the items Biden gave, he seemed to prefer his pilot glasses.
He has gone to great lengths to make his private brand’s classic glasses a core component. In truth, they were featured in the first image he posted on his Instagram accounts for vice president in 2014. In 2020, his plan created the” Team Joe Aviators” which let people set the traditional glasses, which were first commissioned by the U. S. Army Corps in the 1930s, on their own pictures.
It should come as no surprise that the commander in chief appeared to distribute them like lollipops at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington in December 2022 given his affection for them.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the president of the African Union Commission, received a piece. But did officials from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, the Congo, Coted’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, and many, many more.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was one of the few who did not receive them.
During Biden’s Nov. 14, 2022, journey overseas, he gave Xia$ 1, 557.84 practice glass dish made by an American artist. The plate was placed inside a military gift box with “hand-painted White House wood.”
Despite his administration calling the country out for bad actions, Biden vowed to keep a solid relationship with Xi during his term.  , The United States and China have worked to restore deep divisions over Beijing’s say to Taiwan, its position on Russia’s war in Ukraine, human rights abuses, and systems, to name a few.
About a fortnight after Biden gave Xi a pitcher, he gave Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani a$ 1, 962 practice set soccer game with the national seal and signature. Qatar, which hosted the FIFA World Cup at the time, was the target of immigrant worker human rights abuses.
A day later, on Dec. 19, 2022, Biden presented Venezuelan President Guillermo Lasso Mendoza with a variant of the same game and a pair of custom pilot glasses. The entire present cost$ 2, 296.12.
New Zealand even got a game.
Ireland got one, also, but it was a rugby , game.  , Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was presented with it during a March 17, 2023, attend to the White House. It cost$ 2, 208.
During Brazilian President Gustavo Petro’s April 20, 2023, attend to the White House, he was gifted a “large, colored hand blown glass vehicle” in a golden product package and a Yellowstone National Park throw cover.
The taxpayers ‘ money was$ 515.99 when the prime minister of Papua New Guinea received a custom American golf set that included a putter, divots, and golf balls with the presidential seal.
During Biden’s July 17, 2023 visit to Finland, he presented President , Sauli Niinistö with a$ 1, 800″ custom handmade American hockey stick display shelf and custom puck set made from White House wood”, while his wife got a sterling silver and yellow gold bracelet worth$ 975.
Biden gave King Charles III custom 18-karat yellow gold cufflinks in a “beehive design and citrine gemstone,” which was estimated to cost$ 2,500 when he made the same day’s trip to England. The country’s prime minister at the time, Rishi Sunak, was given a” ship’s bell double clock” with the seal of the U. S. and Biden’s signature.
The most expensive present on the list was$ 5, 000, which was given to King Charles III and Queen Camilla at their coronation on May 5, 2023. The former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II received “archivally printed” letters from the U.S. National Archives. The letters were presented in a” custom leather” folio.
No current U.S. president has ever witnessed a British monarch’s coronation.
Second man Doug Emhoff and vice president Kamala Harris
When Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte visited the White House for a state visit on November 30, 2022, Harris and Emhoff gave the couple a selection of wines from Virginia and California.
Macron, who famously said,” A meal without wine is a bit sad”, is believed to favor a French burgundy. There hasn’t been much written about his preference for wines from California or Virginia. An etching of the vice president’s residence was included in the gift set from Harris and her husband, which was delivered in a custom box with an inscription that taxpayers had to pay an incredible$ 3, 482.87.
Harris and Emhoff also gifted South Korea’s Yoon and his wife a custom culinary set featuring aprons, wooden spoons, glasses, a pewter tray, and the book American: Food That Tastes Like Home during their April 25, 2023, visit to Washington.
Emhoff’s solo trips
During Emhoff ‘s , solo trip to Thailand and the Philippines in November 2022, he gave first lady Liza Araneta Marcos a handmade silver lotus brooch with a pearl and white , lacquer jewelry box worth$ 1, 095.51.
On March 27, 2023, he gifted Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the first lady of Ghana, a hand-blown glass vase in a custom leather box with an inscription that cost taxpayers ,$ 1, 580.  , During that same trip, he gave Mutinta Hichilema, the first lady of Zambia, a$ 1, 580 custom white and ivory hand-blown glass bowl.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
During an Oct. 21, 2022, bilateral meeting in Washington, Blinken gifted Catherine Colonna, France’s minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs,  , a custom set featuring an American-made wristwatch with a box and journal featuring the U. S. seal that cost$ 638.75.
A month later, he gifted Macron a custom desk set with a magnifying glass, a Monticello wooden pen, and the leather-bound book Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, which set taxpayers back$ 1, 190. He gifted Brigitte Macron a$ 1, 200 custom desk set featuring a blue enamel and lapis box, a notepad, and a letter opener.
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During his June 17, 2023, trip to China, Blinken gave Qin Gang, the minister of foreign affairs, a pewter tea set featuring the presidential seal in a navy gift box priced at$ 1, 345. Because the present exceeded the$ 1,200 cap established by federal guidelines, the State Department requested special permission to purchase it.
But perhaps weirdest , was the$ 1, 109 in taxpayer funds spent on a set of five custom-made leather dog collars and leashes for the wife of South Korea’s president.
