Reports that Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to accept a luxury plane from the Qatari royal family have set off a storm of criticism, as ethics experts say such a gift would violate rules within the constitution that seek to guard against bribery and corruption.
There is a long history of US presidents accepting gifts from foreign powers. The very desk from which Trump has signed a record number of executive order was given to the US by Queen Victoria in 1880. The “Resolute Desk” was given to President Rutherford B Hayes and is made from the oak timbers of the British ship HMS Resolute.
Clothes, antiques – and even animals – have all in the past been presented to US presidents. Most often these gifts are then disposed of through a complicated bureaucratic process enshrined in the constitution.
During George W Bush’s administration, a puppy given to the president by the leader of Bulgaria was sent directly to the National Archives which preserves government and historical records. The puppy was then placed with a family.
Bush was unable to keep the dog because under the constitution’s emoluments clause, government office holders are banned from accepting gifts from any “king, prince, or foreign state”, without the approval of Congress. Trump officials reportedly believe the president might be able to keep the luxury plane because it will be transferred to his presidential library at the end of his term. Sources say they arrived at that conclusion after determining that the gift was not conditioned on any official act and therefore was not bribery.
Under US law, foreign gifts valued at less than $480 can be retained by federal employees. Anything over that amount is considered a gift to the “people of the United States” and must be logged and then disposed of by the White House Gift Unit. Most gifts are transferred to the national archives or the presidents future presidential library which acts as an archive of the leader’s administration.
Like other presidents, Barack Obama’s presidential library contains thousands of gifts, given to the former presidents, including silver cufflinks, Christmas ornaments and a double decker bus pencil sharpener.
If a gift does take the president’s particular fancy, they can retain it, as long as they pay a fair market value for it.
In 2023, the US House oversight committee reported 100 items given to Trump from foreign nations in his first term were missing, after the White House failed to log them. They included a lifesize painting of the president given by the president of El Salvador and golf clubs from the prime minister of Japan that were valued at more than $250,000 in total. A spokesperson for Trump said many of the items “were received either before or after the administration”.
The New York Times has reported that at an estimated value of $400m, the Boeing jet offer currently making headlines would probably be the most expensive gift from a foreign government in US history. It has been reported that the president would use the plane as the new Air Force One until shortly before the conclusion of his second Oval Office stint, at which point it could be transferred to his presidential library foundation, raising the prospect that Trump would have use of the plane even after his presidency ends.
In a statement, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said: “Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s administration is committed to full transparency.
Despite the ethical concerns, foreign leaders use gifts as an important tool to strengthen relationships and break the diplomatic ice.
In 1997, President Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan gave Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton a 6ft by 5ft rug with their faces on it, which was woven in just weeks, after the president accepted an invitation to the White House. Twelve women worked around the clock in eight-hours shifts to produce the carpet, a process that normally takes months.
In 2008, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert gave Bush a bicycle after it was reported that the then president was unable to jog because of an injury to his knee.
Other members of the administration are governed by the same rules of gift giving and receiving. In 2005, vice-president Dick Cheney’s log of gifts was double that of president George W Bush’s. That year Cheney, an avid hunter, received four guns including one worth more than $6,000. For his part, Bush’s most eye-opening gift in 2005 might have been 300 pounds (136kg) of raw lamb from Argentina – a gift that was likely destroyed by the secret service due to official White House rules on food and drink gifts.
