Obama's gift giving art

In the first year after Obama took office, he received a list of gifts: luxury goods valued at nearly 200,000, a "Ghana black star" valued at nearly 50,000 U.S. dollars, a tie worth 30,000 yuan, and a gold watch... Obama's first year in office. List of gifts: 25 DVDs that cannot be played in Europe, and a new iPod nano with many songs...

The US State Department issued a document on January 18, which counts all the national rituals that President Obama received in his first year of office (2009), worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. What are these gifts? Can Obama and his family enjoy it? What are the gifts of Obama’s rebate?

The most generous shot came when Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah numbered a total of nearly 190,000 U.S. dollars worth of luxury goods for Obama’s family in 2009, including a set of ruby ​​and diamonds for the First Lady of the United States. Jewelry, including earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces, worth $132,000, was the most expensive gift U.S. official received that year. However, since U.S. law stipulates that diplomatic gifts must be turned over to the government, the jewelry has already been sent to the National Archives, which means that Michelle could not wear them. In addition, Abdullah gave Michelle a pearl necklace worth $14,200. His gift to Obama was a marble clock decorated with gold palm trees and camels worth about $34,500. Obama’s two daughters received diamond earrings and necklaces worth more than $7,000. In addition, recently resigned White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and the resigned White House chief of staff, Ram Emanuel, etc., also received gifts from King Abdullah. These gifts include watches, shirts, Pens, earrings, necklaces, etc. Values ​​range from $5,000 to $9,000.

Mrs. Mills, the first lady from the small African country of Ghana, gave Michelle a very precious watch. It was meticulously carved from 18K gold and diamonds. It was named "Black Star of Ghana" and was worth $ 48,000. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also made an extraordinary contribution. The gifts he gave to the Obama family totaled about 33,000 U.S. dollars, including silk ties, gold watches, crystal tables and candlesticks. In the same year, the rich leader also presented some neckties and scarves to the members of the National Assembly, including Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives, worth about 2,000 U.S. dollars. The Chinese national ***** gave Mr. Obama a beautiful framed silk embroidery with the portrait of the first American family.

Former Prime Minister of Japan Hatoyama Koji gave Michel a pearl necklace worth US$9,700; Israeli President Perez gave Obama a bronze statue based on Obama, worth US$8,000; the French President Sarkozy’s couple sent Perfume and a $4,500 black Dior handbag.

Of course, there are also some representatives of the “gifts of affection” in the gift list. For example, Palestinian leader Abbas’s gift value totals US$521, of which a bottle of US$75 olive oil is the cheapest listed in this document. a gift.

A lot of gifts were received, but how many of them combined with Obama's mind? For this issue, Obama revealed in the "White Oprah Winfrey Talk Show" Christmas Special in December 2009 that he half-jokingly said that he "gave a better gift than gotten." Is this true?

In March 2009, when the British media called the “hot face cold butt” visit, then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown prepared a gift for the Obama who was at the beginning of his appointment, a pen-holder full of symbolic significance and emphasizing the traditional friendship between the United States and the United States. It can be matched with a desk called "Fortitude Table" in the White House oval office. This desk was made from the hull wood of the 19th century British Royal Navy's "Irony" and was given by Queen Victoria to the then US President Hayes in 1880. The pen that Brown gave to Obama was drawn from the timber of the British Royal Navy’s “Planego” warship. “Plant Goose” and “Deacon” are sister ships. It shows how hard Brown has done.

What is Obama's gift? A set of incredible Hollywood blockbusters, including 25 discs such as Star Wars, Citizen Kane, Godfather, and even Psychiatric Patients. This made the British media stunned first, and then angered, and finally played arrogance, cynicism and cynicism to the extreme, and can be said to use the "gift door" to describe Obama's diplomatic error can not be exaggerated. Not to mention that these DVDs can be bought in any UK store. Due to differences in the video formats in the United States and Europe, all European DVD players cannot play Obama's "gifts." Is there a more exciting gift than this?

Perhaps because the gift given to Brown was criticized too much, Obama's subsequent preparations for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom can be seen to take a little thought, but still no improvement has been made. In the horror of the British government, "Wish he wasn't coming with an April Fool's Day gift," Obama's new iPod Nano is still somewhat tempting; the other 40 Broadway songs, which are filled out A feeling of "replacement with soup".

At the time, the Queen of England gave the Obamas and couples a “standard” gift for visitors to Buckingham Palace: a photo of the Queen’s couple, framed by a silver frame, worth US$775. Although Obama lost in both of the above two contests, people are pleased to see that he is learning lessons quickly and maturely, at least in the "gift" this required course can now be basically passed.

At the end of March 2009, Obama received visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and gave him a rare American anthem, "The Stars and Stripes never falls."

By September, when the Obamas and their wives took part in the summit of the G20 leaders, the art of giving gifts had become very familiar. What Michelle prepared for the First Lady was a beautiful porcelain made in the style of the tea utensils used by the Lincoln couples. The other is a special hand-made crystal honey jar with Michelle's signature on it, containing the White House’s own honey. U.S. media commented that if such a gift is lacking in new ideas, it will never go wrong.