State Department documents list official gifts US President Barack Obama gets given by world leaders

WHAT do you get a man who has everything? Abbott opted for a surfboard, but these world leaders made some bizarre choices. Check out the best gifts here.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard prepares for her beloved Western Bulldogs team to play in Saturday night's final match against St Kilda.

IT’S tough shopping for a man who has everything.

But it’s nice to see that world leaders struggle the same as the rest of us when it comes to buying the perfect present — if the gifts given to US President Obama are anything to go by.

Prime Minister Abbott is bringing Hawaiian-born Obama a custom-built Malibu surfboard in Air Force One colours when they meet this week. It’s stamped with the official Presidential seal but was reportedly a last-minute choice as the shop was given just a week to make it The Telegraph reports.

Let’s hope he didn’t pack his budgies.

The board has the official Presidential seal.

It’s just one of many gifts White House officials are given each year, which are funnelled through the Protocol Gift Unit and listed on the State Department website.

Everything is accepted to avoid “embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government” but is then shipped off to the National Archives and Records Administration to, presumably, gather dust. Perishables are dealt with “according to Secret Service protocol” — i.e. eaten and drunk we assume.

Get that shuffle straight to the pool room!

Check out some of the bizarre gifts Obama has received:

• A green and white 2GB iPod Shuffle, Sherrin Match Football, Western Bulldogs AFL jersey and a wooden trinket box from former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

• A gold-painted box containing a book, magnifying glass, and full-version of the Star Spangled Banner in custom ink and calligraphy from former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

• One bag of coffee, one candle, six steak knives, four Christmas mugs, a tea set and a record by Stevie Wonder from the Sultan of Brunei. He also gave two ceramic mugs with stars and stripes, a cutting board, a pottery vase, Christmas wreath and a hanging stained glass sign reading ‘‘Obama 2012”.

• A red white and blue basketball signed by China’s Vice President Xi Jinping.

• A custom-made Dunlop tennis table plus paddles from UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Oh yeah. Hot dogs later?

You know it.

• A framed cross-stitch of Michelle and Barack from Brazillian President Dilma Rousseff.

• A giant silver coffee bean from Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon.

• A wooden coyote in a display box, a Coca-Cola bottle decorated with beads and a box full of booze from Mexican President Felipe de Jesus Caldero´n Hinojosa.

• A sabre with 34 inch blade, silver filigree handle and sheath from the President of Mongolia.

• A wooden mask carved into shape of a jaguar head from the President of El Salvador.

• Silver statues of two wild goats and a clock hanging from a tree in a desert scene from the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

• A bamboo bicycle handmade in the Philippines from the Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni would have to be the best gift givers.

The President and First Lady have also been lavished with rugs, paintings, jewellery, tea sets, crystal glasses, traditional weapons, carvings and statues.

But the best gift givers have to be the French, from whom Obama has received classic Lacoste polo shirts, elegant lighters, glass goblets, a silver fountain pen, leather wallets and tote bags.

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