WASHINGTON — Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, greeted President Trump in February 2017 with a portrait of the American president on mother-of-pearl panels, framed in white floral foliate. An official from Saudi Arabia presented Mr. Trump with a framed assemblage of 12 goldtone items in miniature relating to the kingdom, surrounding a sepia-toned photograph of the president, appraised by the State Department at $790. The prime minister of Vietnam gave the president a “gemstone painting” of Mr. Trump smiling against a backdrop of an American flag, made of stone granules, worth about $1,880. Flattery was a major theme of the gifts that Mr. Trump received from foreign officials in the first year of his presidency, based on the list published Thursday in the Federal Register. But that does not make the current president unique.

Source: New York Times March 08, 2019 00:14 UTC