President Donald Trump was given a gift that will likely make the ‘No Kings’ protesters go a little mad – a replica of an ancient golden crown. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung awarded Trump with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest honor, for his work trying to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula during his first term. Trump was the first American leader ever bestowed with the honor.
Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , in at attempt to ink a denuclearization deal, a goal that ultimately foiled him. The announcer said the honor was going to the Republican president ‘in anticipation of the peace and prosperity that you will bring to the Korean peninsula’ as well. In a ceremony Wednesday afternoon in Gyeongju, South Korea, on the sidelines of the APEC summit, Trump was given an ornate medal to symbolize the Grand Order of Mugunghwa and the large golden crown, a replica of the ‘largest and most extravagant of the six existing crowns’ from Korea’s Silla-era.
The announcer is explained this was ‘the first Korean kingdom to unite the Korean peninsula.’ Lee showed Trump his two gilded gifts. ‘I’d like to wear it right now,’ Trump said of the medal, which was displayed in a picture frame. ‘I will cherish it.’ The crown was on display in a glass case. The president was told the gift from Lee was supposed to usher in a ‘golden age’ of U.S.-South Korean relations as well. Trump told Lee the gift was ‘very special’ – and did not try to put the crown on.
The move was the latest gesture by a world leader to lean into the president’s golden tastes, as Trump has splashed the White House with the color associated with wealth and prestige. In Japan, the country’s new leader, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, gifted Trump a golden golf ball, a putter that belonged to Trump’s late friend, the assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his golf bag, signed by Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama. Lee, who took office in June after the country’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from power, met with the president in Washington in August, and as APEC’s host rolled out the red carpet for him.
When Trump touched down Wednesday morning at the Gimgahae International Airport, he was serenaded to a rendition of YMCA by the South Korean Air Force Band. Ahead of the bilateral meeting, Trump was treated to more pomp with a dramatic drum ceremony and military members hoisting sabers. The meal served also played to Trump’s tastes – it included a salad with Thousand Island dressing, a nod to the president’s New York roots, followed by a three-course Korean meal with freshly harvested Gyeongju rice and a gold-themed dessert.
During the leaders’ sit-down, Trump said he wouldn’t be meeting with Kim on this trip due to their schedules not lining up. ‘I know you’re officially at war but we will see what we can do to get that straightened out,’ Trump told Lee. ‘I know Kim Jong Un very well, we get along very well,’ he added.
It’s unclear how much the Trump administration has been able to get in touch with Kim’s regime since he was sworn-in in January. In Tokyo, Trump met with Japanese family members of individuals who been abducted by North Korea. Trump will have what’s considered his most high-stakes meeting of the trip, that with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea Thursday morning.
