MANAMA (Dispatches) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump received nearly $24,000 in gifts from leaders in the Middle East in 2019, according to a new filing published by the State Department on Thursday.
One of the most ornate gifts was a “large double frame carved from black stone” with an image of Trump on one side and the Egyptian coat of arms on the reverse that was given by his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, according to the filing. The gift was valued at $4,450. Sisi also gifted Trump a jeweled collar worth $2,930.
The former president received a bronze sculpture of an Arabian horse valued at $7,200 from Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and a gold onyx, emerald and diamond statue of an Arabian oryx worth $6,300 from the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hammad al-Thani.
In total, Trump and his wife Melania received more than $120,000 worth of presents from foreign leaders in 2019, compared with $88,200 the year before, and $140,000 in 2017.
Aside from Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also received a significant number of gifts from Middle East leaders. He received a total of $17,289 in presents, including a carpet from United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed valued at $9,800.
The Trump administration had warm ties with a number of countries in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt.
The gifts that Egypt’s Sisi gave to Trump came just months before the former U.S. president referred to him as his “favorite dictator”.
During the final months of his presidency, the UAE signed a U.S.-brokered agreement to normalize ties with the Zionist regime.
The agreement, known as the “Abraham Accords”, shattered a longstanding Arab consensus that there should be no normalization with the occupying regime until it reaches a comprehensive deal with the Palestinians.
Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco all followed suit in normalizing ties with the Zionist regime.