US President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a US$20,000 diamond from India’s leader.
Federal law requires executive branch officials to declare gifts they receive from foreign leaders and counterparts that have an estimated value of more than US$480. Many of the gifts that meet that threshold are relatively modest, and the more expensive ones are typically – but not always – transferred to the National Archives or put on official displays.
The US$20,000 diamond was retained for official use in the White House East Wing, according to a State Department document, while the other gifts to the president and first lady were sent to the archives.
Vanessa Valdivia, a spokeswoman for Jill Biden, said the diamond will be turned over to the archives after they leave office. She did not say what it was being used for.
Ukraine’s ambassador, Oksana Markarova, said on Friday on Facebook that a Ukrainian designer fashioned the brooch from the remains of a Russian rocket and that the piece was made from inexpensive materials, so its “true value … lies in its symbolism”. The embassy’s spokeswoman, Halyna Yusypiuk, said US officials provided the assessed value.
