1. Crocodile Insurance
While on an official visit to Australia’s Northern Territory in 2011, President Obama was presented with $50,000 worth of crocodile insurance. In the event a crocodile made it passed his heavily armoured secret service detail and the slew of trained reptile hunters and just happened to injure or kill him, Michelle Obama would receive a $50,000 payout.
2. The Portrait Rug
In 1997 on a visit to Azerbaijan, President Clinton was presented with what can only be called the most awkward piece of art one can imagine. The President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in an elaborate ceremony gave President Clinton a handwoven floor rug that captured the essence of him and Hillary.
3. Snail Secretion Facial Mask
It’s fine to pretend it’s something else if the idea of a snail crawling across their face grosses them out. But of course, gross is in the eye of the beholder, so maybe it’s not a big deal. Beauty demands sacrifices. In Korea and aid had to be informed that this gift would not be well received to a visiting North American ambassador and opted for the safe gift of flowers.
4. Saddam Hussein’s Cobra Head Eaters
Between 1983 and 1984, Donald Rumsfeld, US envoy to the Middle East, met with Saddam Hussein with hopes of creating a positive relationship between the US and Iraq.
He then presented Saddam Hussein with two very odd gifts; one being a medieval spiked hammer and the other was a pair of golden cowboy boots. In return, Saddam presented Donald Rumsfeld with a three a minute video.
The video is available on a Rumsfeld’s website and it is quite disturbing. The blurry, black-and-white video shows a young man violently stabbing a dog and female soldiers biting the heads off live snakes. The video was designed to show the brutality of the Syrian regime.
5. The Penis Cover
In the South Pacific’s Republic of Vanuatu, the island of Tanna has a very strange religious cult: They worship Prince Philip as their god and believe that Philip is a descended from one of their spirit ancestors.
Over the years, there have been many gifts exchanged between Philip and the islanders. In one year, a ceremonial club used to kill pigs was given to the Prince. He returned the gesture with an autographed photo. In 2010, they sent Pince Philip a straw penis sheath as a gift. A cloth used to cover a mans junk.
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