Jeanne Le Borgne
04/01/2025 at 12:52
Joe Biden’s teams have just published the list of gifts of more than $480 received by the American president in 2023 with a major surprise… It was not him, but his wife, Jill Biden, who was offered the most expensive present.
It is a tradition that everyone strives to perpetuate. Whenever two leaders meet for official meetings or state trips, they exchange gifts. A list that is growing very quickly, as the Joe Biden teams have just proven by publishing the list of all the gifts of more than 480 dollars (or around 500 euros) received by the president and his wife, Jill Biden, in 2023.
According to the list republished by the Associated Press, Joe Biden notably received a commemorative photo album worth $7,100 from recently impeached South Korean President Suk Yeol Yoon, a statue of Mongolian warriors worth $3,495 dollars from the Prime Minister of Mongolia, a $3,300 silver bowl from the Sultan of Brunei, a $3,160 sterling silver platter from the President of Israel, and a collage worth $2,400 from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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And if the “Washington Post” insists on the fact that this is only a small overview of the 15,000 gifts received each year by the American president, there is a detail which has not escaped the press American. It was not Joe, but his wife Jill Biden who received the biggest gift offered to the presidential couple in 2023. In June, on the occasion of his visit to the United States, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered the First Lady a 7.5 carat diamond estimated at $20,000. A piece of jewelry that she can match with the brooch worth $14,063 given to her by the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States or with the bracelet received from the hands of the President of Egypt, Abdel-Fattah al -Sissi.
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A Lip watch by Macron
In 2021, Joe Biden had, according to “Fortune”, received $46,000 worth of gifts, including a set of pens worth $12,000 from Vladimir Putin (a few months before the invasion of Ukraine), a photo of Elizabeth II in a silver frame worth $2,200 offered by the queen herself or a Dupont fountain pen for $433 by Emmanuel Macron (who had previously gifted a Louis Vuitton golf bag to Donald Trump worth $8,275). The French president “made up for it” in 2022 by offering his American counterpart a LIP Grande Nautic GMT watch, at 940 euros, as well as a Saint-James sweatshirt.
When they leave the White House, in a few short days, Jill and Joe Biden will nevertheless have to leave behind all these beautiful gifts, unless they buy them back at their market value. These gifts do not belong to them and are intended either to be exhibited or to be kept in the archives of the presidential residence. Jill Biden’s diamond will thus remain in the east wing of the White House, intended to welcome official visitors.
