White Tiger and Cheetah Furs: A Mess of Trump Gift Exchanges

The Saudi royal household showered Donald J. Trump and his entourage connected his first travel abroad arsenic president with dozens of presents, including 3 robes made with achromatic tiger and cheetah fur, and a dagger with a grip that appeared to beryllium ivory.

Little that followed went right.

A White House lawyer determined that possession of the furs and dagger astir apt violated the Endangered Species Act, but the Trump medication held onto them and failed to disclose them arsenic gifts received from a overseas government.

On the past afloat time of Mr. Trump’s presidency, the White House handed them implicit to the General Services Administration — the incorrect bureau — alternatively than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which seized the gifts this summer.

At that point, determination was a surprise.

The furs, from an oil-rich household worthy billions of dollars, were fake.

“Wildlife inspectors and peculiar agents determined the linings of the robes were dyed to mimic tiger and cheetah patterns and were not comprised of protected species,” said Tyler Cherry, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, which oversees the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Officials astatine the Saudi Embassy successful Washington declined to comment.

The communicative of the furs is but 1 illustration of however acquisition exchanges betwixt the United States and overseas leaders — a highly regulated process intended to shield administrations from questions of impropriety — devolved into sometimes risible shambles during the Trump administration.

The State Department’s inspector wide is investigating allegations that Mr. Trump’s governmental appointees walked disconnected with acquisition bags worthy thousands of dollars that were meant for overseas leaders astatine the Group of 7 summit planned for Camp David successful 2020, which was canceled due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic. The bags contained dozens of items purchased with authorities funds, including leather portfolios, pewter trays and marble trinket boxes emblazoned with the statesmanlike seal oregon the signatures of Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump.

The inspector wide continues to prosecute the whereabouts of a $5,800 vessel of Japanese whiskey fixed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — Mr. Pompeo said helium ne'er received it — and a 22-karat golden coin fixed to different State Department official.

There is besides a question astir whether the erstwhile 2nd lady, Karen Pence, wrongly took 2 gold-toned spot paper holders from the premier curate of Singapore without paying for them.

In addition, the Trump medication ne'er disclosed that Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and a apical White House adviser, received 2 swords and a dagger from the Saudis, though helium paid $47,920 for them on with 3 different gifts successful February, aft helium near office.

To beryllium sure, Mr. Trump’s handling of overseas gifts is not astatine the apical of his critics’ database of medication offenses. And determination is nary grounds that helium oregon Mrs. Trump took immoderate gifts to which they were not entitled.

But morals experts said the problems reflected larger issues with the Trump presidency.

“Whether this was indifference, sloppiness oregon the Great Train Robbery, it shows specified a cavalier cognition to the instrumentality and the regular process of government,” said Stanley M. Brand, a transgression defence lawyer, morals adept and erstwhile apical lawyer for the House of Representatives.

The State Department declined to code the specifics of however the Trump medication handled gifts but said successful a connection that it “takes earnestly its relation successful reporting the disposition of definite gifts received by U.S. authorities employees” and that it was “investigating the whereabouts of gifts that are unaccounted for and the circumstances that led to their disappearance.”

This nonfiction is based connected nationalist documents and others produced by the national authorities nether the Freedom of Information Act, interviews with existent and erstwhile authorities officials, and on-the-record responses to questions from respective authorities departments and agencies. The documents see an scale of gifts that Mr. Trump and his household received successful Saudi Arabia successful 2017 that the National Archives provided to 2 Democratic senators, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

The details astir the missing gifts and the different wide problems with them person not been antecedently reported. Politico reported successful August that the State Department’s inspector wide was investigating immoderate 20 types of missing gifts.

82 Gifts From the Saudis

The nation’s founders were truthful acrophobic that European nobility could co-opt U.S. officials with lavish gifts that they included successful the Constitution a clause making it amerciable for an authoritative to instrumentality thing of worthy from a foreigner.

In 1966, Congress passed a instrumentality detailing however a U.S. authoritative could support a acquisition of lone comparatively minimal value, present capped astatine $415. Subsequent amendments defined gifts arsenic authorities spot and created a standardized process for however officials were to woody with them.

To adhd transparency, provisions necessitate administrations to annually disclose the gifts fixed to U.S. officials by foreigners and their appraised value. The laws person nary transgression penalties, though ineligible experts said that anyone caught taking authorities spot could beryllium prosecuted for theft.

The Trump administration’s acquisition problems day from the president’s travel successful May 2017 to Saudi Arabia, whose leaders were jubilant that Mr. Trump had chosen the kingdom for his archetypal sojourn overseas and was embracing them aft years of tensions with the Obama administration. The Saudis person a past of giving lavish gifts to American presidents, and Mr. Trump and his aides appeared to person a generous bounty.

The State Department disclosed a database of 82 gifts from the Saudis to Trump medication officials connected the May 2017 travel successful effect to a Freedom of Information Act petition filed soon aft Mr. Trump returned home. The gifts ranged from mean ones similar sandals and scarves to costly ones similar furs and daggers.

Nine of the astir costly presents — the 3 furs, 3 swords and 3 daggers — were sent to the White House gifts portion to beryllium assessed and appraised but ne'er appeared connected immoderate of the Trump State Department’s legally required yearly filings for overseas gifts, according to a reappraisal of authorities documents.

It was not until Jan. 19, 2021, that the White House sent the 9 gifts to the General Services Administration, according to a connection from the agency.

After The New York Times inquired this summertime astir wherefore the bureau was successful possession of items successful usurpation of the Endangered Species Act, the General Services Administration alerted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which sent an cause successful July to cod the furs astatine a authorities warehouse successful Springfield, Va. The cause besides took the dagger, which a visiting Qatari authoritative had fixed to the Trump White House successful Saudi Arabia.

Inspectors examined the items, discovering much problems arsenic they determined that the furs had been dyed and were fake. The dagger’s grip “appears to perchance incorporate bony oregon bony of immoderate variety” — the materials of elephant tusk — “although further laboratory investigation would beryllium required to place the species,” the Interior Department said.

It is unclear if the Saudis knew astir the fake furs oregon were deceived by a supplier, but Bruce Riedel, a elder chap astatine the Brookings Institution and an adept connected Saudi-U. S. relations, called the gifts highly embarrassing.

“The 2 astir important things for them is to look similar they’re aboveboard satellite actors, and are affluent and amusement their wealth,” helium said.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump did not instrumentality respective messages seeking comment.

Disappearing Gift Bags

As Trump governmental appointees successful the State Department’s protocol bureau packed up their belongings successful January, vocation officers saw their departing colleagues permission with the acquisition bags meant for overseas leaders astatine the G7 acme the erstwhile year, the inspector wide has learned. The bags had been successful retention successful a ample country astatine the State Department known arsenic the vault.

Once the Biden medication took over, vocation officials began to analyse the accounting of overseas gifts without Trump officials looking implicit their shoulders.

In the months that followed, The Times located galore of the gifts, including a vessel of perfume and a Persian silk carpet that the Qataris had fixed to Steven Mnuchin, the erstwhile Treasury secretary. (His gifts were expected to person been sent to the General Services Administration for disposal, but they were sitting successful retention astatine the Treasury Department.)

The vessel of whiskey for Mr. Pompeo remains unaccounted for, arsenic does the 22-karat golden coin and a porcelain vessel from Vietnam for John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump’s 3rd nationalist information adviser, who sent The Times an email speech with the Trump White House showing that helium ne'er took it and did not privation it.

One enigma has been solved: When The Times reached retired to Mrs. Pence, a lawyer for the household said that she had taken the gold-toned spot paper holders aft a White House morals lawyer told her she could support them due to the fact that they had been appraised astatine little than the minimal threshold, which was $390 astatine the time.

But according to the accusation provided to the State Department by the Trump White House, Mrs. Pence should person paid for the spot paper holders. Under national guidelines, if a U.S. authoritative is fixed aggregate gifts successful a gathering with a overseas official, the American indispensable wage for them if the full exceeds the minimal threshold. The State Department said the Trump White House reported that Mrs. Pence had received the paper holders on with a framed people and a clutch purse, which totaled $1,200.

Richard Cullen, the lawyer for the Pence family, said the State Department was wrong, the gifts had been fixed astatine antithetic meetings, and Mrs. Pence had declined to support the people and clutch. In effect to Mr. Cullen’s explanation, a State Department spokesperson said it stood by its characterization of Mrs. Pence’s gifts.

Matthew Cullen and Mark Walker contributed research.