Costliest and Bizarre Gifts Bestowed upon American Presidents
Foreign leaders, celebrities, and American citizens have frequently gifted unique and memorable items to U.S. presidents, with the aim of fostering relationships, expressing respect, and sometimes making unforgettable global impressions. These gifts range from extravagant luxury items, like a $400 million Boeing 747, to creative trinkets, such as portraits painted on individual grains of rice.
While federal law mandates that presidents must report gifts from foreign governments worth over $480, these presents ultimately become the property of the American people. The creativeness of the gift-givers remains undeterred, as illustrated by some of the most remarkable gifts below.
Key Points:
- Presidents often receive gifts to symbolize respect, strengthen alliances, and build relationships, and occasionally to request favors.
- The U.S. president cannot personally keep the gifts; they belong to the American public.
Trump's Unique Collection:
During Donald Trump's presidency, he received a variety of gifts, including luxury items, weapons, clothing, and footwear. In 2025, the Qatari royal family gifted him a Boeing 747-8 luxury jet, estimated to be worth $400 million. Initially intended as Air Force One, the aircraft would have transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation shortly before Trump's departure from office.
In 2017, Trump received 83 gifts from Saudi Arabia, which included swords, daggers, fur robes, scarves, shirts, a hoodie, a turquoise dress, and several pairs of sandals. Trump admitted that he would have been "stupid" to refuse this gesture.
Historical Hindrance on Accepting Gifts:
The ban on accepting gifts or "emoluments" from foreign states since the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) states that no one holding any office "shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."
Obama's Odd Gifts:
Former President Barack Obama received unusual items such as a surfboard, crocodile insurance, 50 pairs of H&M boxer-briefs, a gem-encrusted horse sculpture worth nearly half a million dollars, and a ping pong table during his tenure.
Bush, Clinton, and Other Presidents' Gifts:
President George W. Bush received a set of skates with protective gear from the Dutch prime minister and a stuffed lion and leopard from Tanzania's president. Richard Nixon's wife, Patricia, was sent two giant pandas inadvertently after expressing admiration for them. Franklin D. Roosevelt received a painting from Winston Churchill, which later belonged to celebrities Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
In 1835, President Andrew Jackson was given a 1,400-pound wheel of cheese, which was left in the White House foyer for two years before being distributed to the public.
Gaining Attention Through Gifts:
Exchanging gifts serves a traditionally social purpose, strengthening bonds and expressing appreciation. However, with the U.S. President, it's often about making a lasting impression—whether by sending something incredibly rare or valuable, like a private jet or insurance against a Komodo dragon, or through more unusual gifts like crocodile insurance or rice grain portraits.
Gifts given to U.S. presidents often surpass regular trinkets and include unique and attention-grabbing items, such as tokens like crocodile insurance or rice grain portraits, reflecting an effort to make unforgettable global impressions, as seen in gifts like the Qatari royal family's Boeing 747-8 luxury jet valued at $400 million.
Gift-givers occasionally use unconventional gifts to gain attention, like former President Barack Obama's gem-encrusted horse sculpture or Donald Trump's 83 gifts from Saudi Arabia, which ranged from swords and daggers to a turquoise dress and sandals.
