Cuban Dictator Raul Castro Gave Obama 205 Cuban Cigars During Final Year in Office

Then President Barack Obama (R) shakes hands with Cuban communist leader Raul Castro at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 29, 2015. (Anthony Behar-Pool/Getty Images)

Communist Cuban dictator Raul Castro provided former President Obama with more than $2 000 worth of cigars and a bottle of rum in 2015 along with a wooden bust of Abraham Lincoln.

According to The New York Post, citing federal documents posted online on Wednesday, foreign leaders gave Obama $100,000 in gifts during his final year in office.

U.S. government officials are allowed to accept presents from foreign leaders and governments if their refusal them would cause embarrassment, AP noted. Usually, officials have to give them to the National Archives if the goods are valuable.

Ex-Obama deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes turned over 205 Cuban cigars and a bottle rum to the Secret Service and the National Archives, AP reported.

Rhodes himself got 10 cigars, a silver earring, and necklace set, as well as a music CD worth a total of $670 in 2016, the report said.

Meanwhile, in 2016, the Castro---the brother of longtime communist dictator Fidel Castro---gave former first lady Michelle Obama a white linen dress and a ceramic plate worth nearly $1,200. The two Obama daughters also received linen dresses, prints, and a CD of music valued at around $1,164, AP reported.

Obama received countless items during his two presidential terms from foreign governments and leaders, reportedly worth more than $1.5 million in all, according to the Post.

There were no gifts given to Obama by Russia.

An unnamed official who is from the Obama administration’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence got a bottle of $4,000 Remy Martin cognac in 2016. The liquor was marked as “retained for official use,” AP reported.

Recommended Video:

Boiling water turns to snow