Discussion: Foreign Leaders Lavished Trump With More Than $140K In Gifts In 2017

Like all of the other gifts to Trump, his wife, daughter Ivanka and
son-in-law Jared Kushner, those were turned over to the National
Archives.

I’d like to see the exact dates when these turnovers occurred. I’m betting that each time they wheeled his toys away, our presidential toddler threw an epic tantrum that ended with him locked in the bathroom tweeting between sniffs.

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An AP story designed to “normalize” the graft and corruption of the Trump Administration, as well as spreading around the names of the donors to include people besides dictators and foreign oligarchs.

The mark reading this article is supposed to come away from reading it saying:

“Hmmmm…not bad…not very much…and some Allies gave him gifts too…Obama probably got MORE!!!”

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Like all of the other gifts to Trump, his wife, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, those were turned over to the National Archives.

<img src="/uploads/default/original/4X/0/6/f/06f7d4699e6907256add9a95288ecc5f96c48354.png" width="225" height="225">
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Like all of the other gifts to Trump, his wife, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, those were turned over to the National Archives

We need to see photographic proof of that.

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What does the national archives do with this crap? Just store it forever? Or can trumps come and visit with it when they want?

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Hmmmpf… should read
Foreign Leaders Lavished Trump With More Than $140K In Grifts In 2017

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Yeah, but were those price estimates the ones used for insurance purposes or income taxes. Inquiring minds want to know.

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and 24/7 live webcam coverage.

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A lot of it ends up in presidential libraries. In Spanky’s case, that might be Ft. Leavenworth.

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Grifters and Grifting, We Hardly Knew Ye

Unfortunately, it burst into flames the minute Donnie touched it.

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Fucking. Nonsense.

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If the gifts are turned over to the National Archives, why do other countries even bother to give personal gifts like jewelry or a fountain pen? Are the recipients allowed to use them until they leave the WH? Could Melania borrow back those Mikimoto earrings to wear on the next visit to/from Japanese dignitaries? I suppose it’s a gesture of goodwill, but it seems rather pointless (to me anyway).

ETA: Actually, these are great ways to promote the products of your country–some people might buy Delvaux handbags since Melania and Ivanka were given them–I had never heard of them before but they are probably luxury goods made (or at least designed) in Belgium.

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Merkel gave the Trumps Mont Blanc pens and paper

Was she trolling him because he cannot write? Of just that he cannot recognize true quality?

quote:

“I was signing documents with a very expensive pen and it didn’t write well,” Trump said. “It was a horrible pen, and it was extremely expensive,”…“And then I started using just a Sharpie, and I said to myself, well wait a minute, this much writes much better and this cost almost nothing.” … “So, I called up the folks at Sharpie and I said, ‘do me a favor, can you make the pen in black? Can you make it look rich?’”

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I’m guessing MSRP–what a seller would hope to get, rather than what is the real price. Almost everything sells for less on the market.

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Yep. It’s a weird ritual. Foreign dignitaries give the US president gifts knowing he’s not allowed to keep them —emoluments!— and the president gives them gifts (on our dime, of course) and the recipient may or may not be allowed to keep them depending on his/her country’s practices.

I’d like to see what kind of weird, garish, Trump-centric gifts Donnie hands out. Copies of his electoral college map, with rubies for the red states and sapphires for the blue? Gold-plated replicas of the Lincoln Memorial, but with Trump substituted for Lincoln? Coupons for a free round at any Trump golf club, maybe including free drinks at the 19th hole?

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/tokens_and_treasures/gifts_of_state.html

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You know they’re NOT showing up on Donnie’s tax returns.

Like everything else doesn’t…

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Bet he kept some things to sell, under cover, on Ebay. After all, a guy has to make a few thousand here or there.

AP traditionally produces a spectrum of stories so the political slant can be tailored for the consuming regional or even local market. What strikes me is how limited the scope of the article was. Trump collects tribute in many forms. Disguised or “layered” loan guarantees from Putin or others would never register as gifts, yet could be worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, much more than the amounts discussed here. There are also simple forms of gifting directly to the Trump business, for example renting rooms at his hotels. The US president’s salary is $400,000 a year, plus $50,000 for expenses. I would not be surprised if Trump’s grifting rakes in twice that amount daily. No doubt Mnuchin and Jared are also cashing in. What is harder to see is what Eric Prince or Betsy DeVos are getting out of the deal. Long range changes like massive private military contracts or extensive privatization of education seem more distant as these are classic areas where the public economy has tremendous competitive advantage.

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