A carved swamp kauri bowl, a merino scarf and two Swanndri dog jackets in green were gifted to the White House on Wednesday as presents from Prime Minister to US President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr Jill Biden.
The First Lady, a teacher, was also gifted a copy of an educational book, written by the mother of the New Zealand Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
The gifts were handed over at the first White House meeting between New Zealand and America's leaders in eight years.
The meeting ran twice as long as expected. (Source: 1News)
"I look forward to our conversation today. We have a lot to talk about. And I'm really, really delighted to have you here," the president said to Jacinda Ardern.
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Also included was a pounamu waihaka for the President, a fighting club using stone sourced from the West Coast of the South Island.
Ardern sat down for an hour-long meeting with the president that ran over time. That was a sign, she said, of the good relationship between the two countries.
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"I think that is a demonstration of the warmth of the relationship, the common ground, and a little bit of shared Irish heritage," she said.
Her visit comes at an important time for US international relations, with the war on Ukraine and the growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region.
New Zealand's experience with gun legislation reform was also discussed, as the United States deals with the fallout of another mass shooting of children.
The face-to-face meeting was the finale of Ardern’s two week criss-crossing of the country, on a trip that focussed on trade and tourism.
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