{"id":2782,"date":"2026-07-04T13:40:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2026-07-04T13:40:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:40:04","slug":"belgium-got-its-tariffs-cut-then-it-sent-trump-a-diamond-superman-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2782","title":{"rendered":"Belgium got its tariffs cut. Then it sent Trump a diamond Superman ring"},"content":{"rendered":"
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All told, 321 diamonds, 56 sapphires, 13 emeralds and six rubies encrust the watch-sized gold ring presented this week to Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, to give to U.S.\u00a0President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Read more Before independence, America tried \u2014 and failed \u2014 to conquer Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA very special thank you to my friends from Antwerp for the magnificent Freedom 250 ring,\u201d Trump said in a prerecorded video message during an event marking\u00a0America\u2019s 250th birthday\u00a0in Brussels.<\/p>\n

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Isidore M\u00f6rsel, president of the Antwerp World Diamond Center, or AWDC, gifted the ring on behalf of the centuries-old diamond community in the Belgian port city, a\u00a0central node in the worldwide trade\u00a0of the precious stones that found itself struggling last year under the weight of Trump\u2019s sweeping trade war.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay this ring serve as a lasting reminder that true partnership, like the finest natural diamonds, are formed under pressure, endure the test of time, and shine brightest when built on trust,\u201d M\u00f6rsel said. The ring\u2019s interior is engraved with the phrase \u201cCrafted in Antwerp for Donald John Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

In dollar terms, the ring\u2019s value pales beside gifts like the\u00a0$400 million plane donated by Qatar\u00a0that Trump ordered converted into a new Air Force One. But it\u2019s a glitzy window into the role that ostentatious \u2013 and almost always gilded \u2014 gifts are playing by those seeking to curry favor with the U.S. president.<\/p>\n

A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said Thursday that the ring has not been presented to Trump yet.<\/p>\n

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The ring is latest in Trump\u2019s historic break with White House custom<\/h4>\n

The gift comes months after Belgium\u2019s diamond industry won the removal of U.S. tariffs on diamond imports. In September, AWDC said it had \u201csucceeded in securing a zero percent import tariff\u201d on Antwerp\u2019s annual export of more than $2 billion of polished diamonds to the U.S. A spokesperson for the group said on Thursday that the AWDC provided \u201cinput\u201d to the European Commission as it negotiated with Trump on\u00a0a broad deal on tariffs\u00a0in 2025, but did not itself lobby the administration.<\/p>\n

U.S. presidents have considerable\u00a0discretion to accept gifts from domestic and foreign sources\u00a0and may determine themselves whether a gift was meant for them personally or the nation. The exception is those from foreign governments, which are prohibited by the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution without congressional assent, though presidents could use personal funds to reimburse the Treasury for the full value of an official gift if they wish to retain it.<\/p>\n

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Personal gifts are also supposed to be registered on the president\u2019s annual financial disclosure.\u00a0Trump\u2019s 2025 disclosure,\u00a0released this week, revealed a $250,000 gift of a sculpture depicting his triumphal gesture after surviving a 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and tickets to 10 sporting events, including 10 to the upcoming World Cup final in New Jersey from FIFA\u2019s Gianni Infantino, valued at a collective $15,000.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump White House can reinstall its sanitized history of slavery at George Washington\u2019s house, appeals court rules<\/a><\/p>\n

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Four U.S. ethics experts told The Associated Press that Trump has broken with decades-old custom in the White House to avoid accepting such gifts.<\/p>\n

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The ring\u2019s value estimated at $25,000-$35,000<\/h4>\n

To forge the ring, the AWDC turned to David Gotlib, an Antwerp-based high-end jeweler whose cufflinks can sell for more than 15,000 euros ($17,000).<\/p>\n

Neither AWDC nor Gotlib would provide a valuation of the ring, but two independent jewelers told AP they estimated the value at between $25,000 and $35,000.<\/p>\n

Paris- and London-based jewelry consultant Alexander Levinson calculated the cost at $25,928, while David Saad, a third-generation luxury jeweler in Canada, priced the ring between $33,000 and $35,000. Both said half the cost was in materials, half in labor.<\/p>\n

After the ring was presented on a star-spangled stage in Brussels, musician Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, sang the U.S. national anthem to more than 8,000 people drinking Budweiser and bourbon from Tennessee and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

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Ambassador White said he raised more than $5.5 million for the 250th anniversary event from corporate sponsors like defense industry titans Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, tech firms like Intel, Google and Meta, as well as the European chocolate companies Leonidas and Ferrero. AWDC said it contributed funds, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media was asking, \u2018Why does it have to be so big?\u2019\u201d White said of the event. \u201cBecause we are the United States of America!\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambassador posted on social media Friday that after he gives the ring to Trump, it will be displayed in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Read more Pope Leo marks July 4 at migrant graves, not U.S. celebrations<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Antwerp’s jewelers say the $30,000 gift proves partnerships, “like the finest natural diamonds, are formed under pressure.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tariffs"],"yoast_head":"\nBelgium got its tariffs cut. Then it sent Trump a diamond Superman ring - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2782\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belgium got its tariffs cut. 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