Trump Gifts From Saudi Arabia: Tiger Fur Robes and Chiffon Dresses

Photo

When he was a presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump took a hard line against Saudi Arabia, criticizing its human rights record and slamming his opponent, Hillary Clinton, for the donations her family foundation received from the country.

But as president, Mr. Trump has been more generous to Saudi Arabia, and newly published State Department records indicate that, in several dozen small but extravagant ways, it has been pretty nice to him, too.

The records published by The Daily Beast this week list more than 80 gifts that Saudi Arabia gave Mr. Trump when he visited in May, some of which evoke both Indiana Jones and Liberace. (“Orange traditional shirt with silver floral embroidery and leather ammo holder and holster” is one entry.)

Other eye-catching gifts include a sword, a copy of the Kuwaiti Constitution, a “sleeveless white silk cotton garment” and two robes lined with the fur of white tigers. Mr. Trump also received a portrait of himself and three chiffon dresses: one yellow, one pale pink and one yellow and turquoise.

It is unclear whether Mr. Trump gave similar luxury items to his Saudi hosts, who also posted the president’s face on billboards in the capital and arranged a summit meeting of Muslim leaders and a concert by the American country singer Toby Keith. But Mr. Trump did give Saudi Arabia something it wanted: tough talk on Iran, its regional rival, and a $110 billion arms deal that includes $500 million in precision-guided munitions.

Many of the gifts from Saudi Arabia drew interest online because of their opulence and — to an American audience — their oddity. Arms deals and summit meetings are familiar tools of statecraft, but an orange and gold robe lined with cheetah fur?

There is nothing unusual about diplomatic gift-giving, said James B. Smith, a dean at Southern New Hampshire University who served as United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2013. In his experience, the State Department rarely gave gifts. But some Middle Eastern governments can be “very, very generous,” he said.

“The royal court is given to giving gifts,” he said. “So the fact that there is a long list of gifts that the president may have received does not strike me as surprising at all.”

American officials may keep gifts from foreign officials that are valued at less than $390, but anything worth more is turned over to the government. Gifts given to the president, the vice president or their spouses are handled by the White House, which did not respond to an email seeking comment on Tuesday.

Gifts given to lower-level officials, like ambassadors, are handled by the State Department. If an official would like to keep a gift, the State Department will appraise it and offer to sell it to the official, Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Trump is not the first president to receive expensive presents from a foreign leader. State Department records from 2015 show that the Saudi government gave more than two dozen gifts to United States officials, including President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.

The most expensive Saudi gift Mr. Obama received then was a package that included 10 golf clubs, a leather golf bag and a gold-plated sterling silver sculpture of two horses that was covered in diamonds, tsavorites, yellow sapphires, rubies and obsidian. The State Department appraised that gift package, which records show was sent to the National Archives, at $522,972.