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Unusual gifts received by US presidents include a gold snuff box, giant pandas, elephant tusks and personalized rugs
The White House may be courting controversy with President Trump’s plans to accept a luxury jumbo jet from the Qatari government, worth $400 million, as the potential new Air Force One — but his administration wouldn’t be the first to welcome lavish gifts from foreign leaders. The practice goes all the way back to the founding of the country in 1776, with US leaders receiving all manner of exotic and expensive gifts from royalty and heads of government around the world. Abraham Lincoln politely declined a gift of a herd of elephants from the King of Siam, modern day Thailand, in 1862. But he kept “a sword of ... (full story)
