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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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The State Department on Thursday published a list of the most expensive gifts given to former President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during the last full year of the Biden-Harris administration.
In a filing in the Federal Register, the Trump administration outlined gifts given to President Biden in Fiscal Year 2024, including a sculpture made from a fragment of the Notre Dame in Paris, a decorative tea set and a sterling silver metal train set.
The State Department's Office of the Chief of Protocol publishes the list yearly of items worth at least $480 given to the president, White House officials and administration officials and those in senior roles across the federal government. Many of the gifts are handed over to the National Archives for safekeeping, rather than remaining with their respective recipients, including the Bidens. The 2024 list has significance in that it is a glimpse into the last year of the Biden administration.
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Full List of Gifts to Biden White House 2024
The most expensive item recorded was a $19,000 painting, titled "Marimba," from Angola's president to President Biden in the last few weeks of his presidency. Biden was also given a sterling silver train set worth $7,750 from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a road bike and two crates of dates worth $7,089 from United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The dates were disposed of by the Secret Service, while the other items made their way to the National Archives, along with $3,300 in photographs and artwork from the prime minister of the Czech Republic, $3,000 in sculpture, photographs, posters and books from President Emmanuel Macron of France and a $3,300 sculpture of a winged woman by the prime minister of Iraq.
Jill Biden was given a bottle of Ormonde Jayne perfume and an 18-carat gold necklace with diamonds from the emir of Qatar and his spouse. Worth roughly $11,165, these were the most expensive gifts on her list, along with other items of jewelry, some of which her husband purchased in order to keep them.
Harris also received a variety of gifts, including books, a clock, ceramics and a painting, but none were worth more than $2,700. All items were transferred to the National Archives.
Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, had two gifts recorded: two sets of cufflinks, a tie holder and a large Kente blanket.
The list also covers items gifted to members of Biden's Cabinet, including cufflinks and a gold coin for former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, artwork for former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns and statues, binoculars and a fountain pen among the items for former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
This article contains reporting by The Associated Press.
Update 1/29/26, 3:44 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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