President Joe Biden gifted his famous aviator sunglasses 57 times to world leaders over the course of two years, gave a Cambodian dictator a $2,310 hand-blown glass vase, and passed out leather soccer balls worth thousands to others.
These are just some of the gifts the Biden-Harris administration has given using taxpayer funds, according to financial disclosure forms seen by the Washington Examiner.
While it is typical for U.S. presidents to bestow gifts on other world leaders when they visit, travel abroad, or attend a summit, some of the tokens reported have raised eyebrows, including presents to heads of state who have been accused of human rights abuses. Other lavish gifts have gone to the wives of presidents and other diplomatic partners.
There were also a few head-scratchers, such as a set of five custom-made leather dog collars and leashes presented to the wife of South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol, costing $1,109.
Here are a few of the standouts:
President Joe Biden
Of the gifts Biden gave, he seemed to favor his aviator sunglasses.
He has gone to great lengths to make the iconic lenses a central element of his personal brand. In fact, they were on display in the first photo he posted on his vice presidential Instagram account in 2014. In 2020, his campaign created the “Team Joe Aviators” which let people put the classic sunglasses, which were first commissioned by the U.S. Army Corps in the 1930s, on their own photos.
Given his affinity for them, it is not a huge surprise that the commander in chief seemed to hand them out like candy at the December 2022 U.S-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.
African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat got a pair. So did leaders from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, and many, many more.
One person who did not get them was Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During Biden’s Nov. 14, 2022, trip abroad, he gave Xi a $1,557.84 custom glass bowl made by an American artist. The bowl was placed in a navy gift box that included “hand-painted White House wood.”
Biden sought to maintain a steady relationship with Xi during his term, even though his administration called the country out for malign actions. The United States and China have worked to repair deep divisions over Beijing’s claim to Taiwan, its stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, human rights abuses, and technology, to name a few.
About a month after Biden gave Xi a bowl, he gifted Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani a $1,962 custom leather soccer ball with the presidential seal and signature. Qatar was hosting the FIFA World Cup at the time and had been under the microscope for human rights abuses against migrant workers.
A day later, on Dec. 19, 2022, Biden presented Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso Mendoza with a version of the same ball and a pair of custom aviator sunglasses. The entire gift cost $2,296.12.
New Zealand also got a ball.
Ireland got one, too, but it was a rugby ball. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was presented with it during a March 17, 2023, visit to the White House. It cost $2,208.
During Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s April 20, 2023, visit to the White House, he was gifted a “large, multicolored hand blown glass vessel” in a gold gift box and a Yellowstone National Park throw blanket.
The prime minister of Papua New Guinea was gifted a custom American golf set with a putter, divots, and golf balls featuring the presidential seal, which set taxpayers back $515.99.
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.
When Biden traveled to England that same day, he presented King Charles III with custom 18-karat yellow gold cufflinks in a “beehive design and citrine gemstone,” estimated at $2,500. 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 gift on the list came in at $5,000 and was delivered to King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their coronation on May 5, 2023. The gift consisted of “archivally printed” letters between former President Dwight Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II from the U.S. National Archives. The letters were presented in a “custom leather” folio.
No sitting U.S. president had ever attended a coronation of a British monarch.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff
When French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, made a state visit to the White House on Nov. 30, 2022, Harris and Emhoff gifted the couple a collection 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 has not been much written on his preference of wines from Virginia or California. The gift set from Harris and her husband also featured an etching of the vice president’s residence in a custom box with an inscription that cost taxpayers a whopping $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.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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. The State Department sought special permission to purchase the present because it exceeded the $1,200 limit set under federal guidelines.
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.
