Trump’s bald eagle gift to Xi: What it means
On Thursday, Xi announced that China would gift two pandas to a zoo in Atlanta and launch a new student exchange programme aimed at welcoming 100,000 US students to study in China over five years.
The gift was unveiled before VIP guests at Thursday’s dinner and represented “the free and soaring spirit of America”, Trump said. Trump said he and First Lady Melania Trump had participated in the design of the sculpture. “The giant panda have been an envoy of friendship between the Chinese and the Americans,” Xi said.
US President Donald Trump presented Chinese President Xi Jinping with a sculpture of a bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States, during a state dinner at the White House in Washington. The statue is part of the tradition of diplomatic gift-giving, an important but sometimes sensitive aspect of international diplomacy. “In a few days, two pandas – Ping Ping and Fu Shuang – will come to their new home in Zoo Atlanta and meet with the American people. Gifts have featured prominently during Trump’s presidency, with the US president receiving items including a luxury jumbo jet, an engraved gold bar and a diamond-and-jewel-encrusted gold ring.
The current limit is $525 (£397). Because it is the national symbol of the United States, the bald eagle was chosen.
Trump said it was designed by an American artist in collaboration with him and First Lady Melania Trump. Earlier reporting noted: Trump said the bird represents America’s “free and soaring spirit” and said he hoped the statue would find a good place in Beijing. The US Constitution’s emoluments clause sets a monetary limit on gifts a president can accept from a foreign government. Gifts exceeding that value become federal property unless the president chooses to purchase them with his own money. The visit comes as the US marks the 250th anniversary of its founding. Donald Trump presented him with a roughly three-foot-tall sculpture of a bald eagle.
Earlier reporting noted: The statue was placed on a podium during the dinner. Trump said on Thursday that he wanted to show Xi “some of the greatest treasures of that proud history. Earlier reporting noted: Chinese President Xi Jinping received a symbolic gift from his US counterpart during a state dinner at the White House on Thursday.