Jewelry, art and toy train top list of priciest foreign gifts to Biden and other officials in 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign leaders and governments presented to former President Joe Biden, his wife, U.S. Cabinet members and other senior officials tens of thousands of dollars in gifts in the last year of the Biden administration, including a $19,000 painting, an $11,000 necklace, a $5,000 bracelet and in one case $15,000 in cash, according to the latest accounting from the State Department.

The annual report, published Thursday in the Federal Register by the department’s Bureau of Protocol, covers calendar year 2024 and does not include any gifts given to President Donald Trump or his administration in the first year of Trump’s second term.

Federal employees are required to report gifts they receive from foreign officials that are worth more than $480. Most gifts are transferred to the National Archives or General Services Administration and not kept by the recipient unless they choose to reimburse the Treasury for them or in rare cases keep them for official use.

Biden received an acrylic painting titled “Marimba” by the noted Angolan artist Guizef Guilherme, which had an estimated value of $19,000 and was sent to the archives.

Perhaps more unusually, Biden was gifted a sterling silver train set worth $7,750 from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a road bike and two crates of dates worth $7,089 from United Arab Emirates president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The train set and bike were both transferred to the archives while the dates were disposed of by the Secret Service, the report says.

Other high-dollar gifts given to the former president include:

— A $3,300 sculpture of a winged woman by the prime minister of Iraq

— $3,300 in photographs and artwork from the prime minister of the Czech Republic

— $3,000 in sculpture, photographs, posters and books from President Emmanuel Macron of France

— $2,512 worth of assorted presents, including aviator sunglasses, wine, a cookbook, cufflinks and a commemorative Nutella jar from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

All of those items were sent to the archives with the exception of the perishables, which were destroyed.

Biden’s wife, former first lady Jill Biden, received a bottle of Ormonde Jayne perfume and an 18-carat gold necklace with diamonds from the emir of Qatar and his spouse. The combined gift was estimated to be worth $11,165, and the report did not break down the individual value of the two items.

She kept the perfume bottle after the liquid was disposed of, but the necklace went to the National Archives.

Jill Biden also reported receiving a Dior bracelet and Sevres vase from Macron’s wife, Brigitte, in a combined gift valued at $5,090. Biden purchased the bracelet but sent the vase to the archives. The report did not give the individual value of the two items.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris received a number of pricey gifts, but none were reported to be worth more than $2,700.

The biggest was a rug, cooking utensils, and a book valued at $2,633 from the United Arab Emirates. She also received:

— A book and clock from the crown prince of Bahrain valued at $1,775

— A ceramic bowl from the first lady of South Korea valued at $1,440

— A painting from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy worth $1,460.

All were transferred to the National Archives.

Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reported receiving several high-value gifts, including a $3,700 bronze statue from his Indian counterpart, binoculars worth $2,950 from his Qatari counterpart and a $1,300 watercolor painting from the prime minister of Iraq. All were to be transferred to the General Services Administration.

At the CIA, former director William Burns reported receiving a $3,000 horse saddle from a senior Kazakh official that was retained for official use.

Several of his employees, who are not required to be named in the document, reported gifts that were also kept for “official use,” including $2,390 in tickets for a Formula One race and a concert by hip-hop star Teddy Swims as well as a $543 box of Swedish/Cuban cigars.

Another CIA employee reported receiving $15,000 in cash from an unnamed foreign government official. The money was given to the Federal Reserve, according to the report.

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported only a handful of gifts in 2024, none of them valued at more than $800. All of those were sent to the GSA for potential use in government facilities.