WASHINGTON — Foreign leaders appear to have scaled back their generosity when it comes to gifts given to President Donald Trump, his family and top officials.
That’s according to an accounting of official presents to the first family and senior Trump administration officials posted to the Federal Register website Monday. The list shows that Trump, his wife, Melania, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner reported receiving $88,420 worth of gifts from foreign leaders in 2018. That’s down from more than $140,000 they reported in 2017.
As in 2017, Melania Trump received the single most valuable item on the list. This year it was a set of six Nymphenburg porcelain plates valued at $23,000 from the sheikh of Qatar. She also received two decorative chairs from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi estimated to be worth $10,000, a $4,200 bed cover from the Uzbek president, candle prickets valued at $1,010 from Jordan’s queen and a $1,280 clutch from the Belgian prime minister’s partner.
Virtually all the gifts to the Trumps were turned over to the National Archives for display or storage, but as government employees, they have the option to purchase them.
The most valuable gift given to Trump himself was from French President Emmanuel Macron: a Louis Vuitton golf bag and a collection of photographs that was valued at $8,250.
