You’ll often see the first family exchange gifts with foreign dignitaries, but these baubles and keepsakes aren’t for the first family to retain in their possession. Citing the Congressional Research Service’s document on gift-giving, AOL reports that these gifts are a “sign of respect and reflection of the relationship between the gifting country and United States.” However, the gifts aren’t considered to be the president’s property. Instead, a “tangible gift of more than minimal value” is to be “accepted on behalf of and property of the United States.”
Mementos are kept in the National Archives while the president is in office, and after the president’s term is complete, the gifts are then transferred to a Presidential Library — that is unless POTUS really wants to keep the item, in which case, the former president can “purchase it back at market value,” according to AOL.
