Barack Obama Received $1 Million+ In Jewelry From Saudi Arabia

Earlier this week it was revealed that the Qatari Royal Family will be gifting a $400 million Boeing 747-8 to the Trump Administration.

This plane, which was previously used by the Qatari Royal Family and has been called a "flying palace", will reportedly be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library after he is done in the White House.

The plane is currently being modified at a facility in Texas, where it will be worked on until it meets the stringent qualifications to be used as "Air Force One".

How would President Trump accept such a gift without breaking any laws?

Technically, President Trump wouldn't be personally accepting the plane.

Instead, the plane would be gifted to the Department of Defense, and then gifted to the Trump Presidential Library after President Trump finishes his final term in the White House.

So - what was the largest gift given to a US President or his family?

While President Barack Obama was in office, two Kings of Saudi Arabia - King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and King Salman - gave the President and his family $1.3 million in jewelry.

In 2011, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud gave First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters $300,000 worth of jewelry.

In 2014, First Lady Michelle Obama received a jewelry set from the former King that was valued at $560,000.

Finally, in 2015, King Salman gave President Obama a gold-plated silver horse sculpture that was valued at over half a million dollars.

So, did the Obamas walk out of the White House with over a million dollars worth of jewelry?

No.

The Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act states that gifts given to federal officeholders from foreign government that are over a certain amount in value are actually gifts to the US government. These gifts are usually transferred to the National Archives, which is what happened to the jewelry that the Obamas received from the Saudi Royal family.



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