We are not amused.
By Julie Mason
Examiner White House Correspondent
The White House press corps this morning arrived in London ahead of President Obama for the start of the G20 economic summit, the first stop on his first trip overseas as president. The president and first lady get here tonight and on Wednesday they hit 10 Downing Street and later, Buckingham Palace for a private meeting with Queen Elizabeth.
At the top of the agenda for the British news media are concerns about the very high-stakes game of world leader gifting. When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the White House recently, Obama gave him a set of 25 American movies on DVD. In addition to being incompatible with UK DVD systems, the gift was roundly sniffed at as wholly inadequate and embarrassing.
Brown gave Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the wood of Victorian-era anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. The Gannet’s sister ship, the Resolute, was made into a desk that presidents including JFK and Obama use in the Oval Office. There is also a Resolute desk in use at Buckingham Palace.
Obama gets a mulligan when he arrives — ideally bearing gifts, but it’s a tricky one. Overdo it with Brown and the president could end up looking like he’s admitting his gift was crummy. Come up short and he compounds the faux pas. The real test, probably, will be in the gift he gives Queen Elizabeth — because that requires some creativity.
