Biden keeps rare present from Italy’s Meloni, | Political News

Former President Joe Biden has been identified to give away presents from other leaders in the past, but there’s one particular present he determined to keep. He didn’t need the custom-designed sterling-silver practice set that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave him, along with a host of other presents from world leaders, but he could not let go of a present from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Meloni generously gifted Biden a pair of $723 Buccellati cufflinks in March 2024, according to information printed by the State Department on Thursday. The pair appeared close at varied occasions together, and the present was despatched just three months before Meloni was seen guiding Biden back to a group of world leaders during a G7 summit in Puglia, Italy.

According to information printed lately, the only other present Biden disclosed to holding was an plane fragment from the wreckage of an A-20 Havoc mild bomber, which was offered to him by James Marape, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, in 2023.

This would have had big sentimental appeal, because Biden’s uncle, Army Air Forces Second Lt. Ambrose Finnegan Jr., died in a airplane crash just off the coast of New Guinea. In 2024, the previous chief said controversially, “They never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea.”

Under U.S. law, authorities officers can not settle for presents or journey price more than $480, unless non-acceptance would trigger “embarrassment” to the donor or the U.S. If they determine to keep them, officers must pay for them.

Also, the report confirmed that Jill Biden obtained a Dior bracelet and a Sevres vase from Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President Emmanuel Macron. This was half of a mixed present package deal valued at $5,090. The former first girl accepted the presents, buying the Dior bracelet from the U.S. authorities, and the accompanying vase was despatched to the National Archives.

Jill also saved a quantity of other presents, including a bottle of Ormonde Jayne Perfume offered by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Thani, and his spouse, Sheikha Fatima Bint Nasser Bin Hassan Al Thani. Additionally, she saved a vase offered by Catherine, the Princess of Wales, two books, and a basket, valued at $567.00 in 2021; however, the vase was the only merchandise “personally retained.”

Meanwhile, Joe Biden is outwardly “waiting to receive” a fragment of a Notre Dame sculpture that was offered to him by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2024.