‘Are You Kidding Me?’: NATO Leaders Couldn’t Get Rid of a Controversial Gift Fast Enough — Everyone Else Accounted for Theirs. Trump’s White House Hasn’t.
A diplomatic summit usually ends with handshakes, carefully worded statements and perhaps a commemorative photo. This year’s NATO gathering in Turkey ended with something far more unusual—an unexpected gift that quickly created legal headaches for leaders once they returned home.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent attendees home with personalized, custom-engraved .357 Magnum revolvers and six rounds of ammunition, a gesture intended to showcase the country’s defense industry, which now manufactures drones, warships and is developing its own next-generation fighter aircraft.
For many leaders, the unusual keepsake quickly became a legal headache.
For President Donald Trump, however, it has drawn attention not only because of its symbolism, but because Trump’s acceptance of it has prompted accusations online that he violated laws governing gifts from foreign governments and, as a convicted felon, should not possess a firearm.
While other NATO leaders quickly surrendered, decommissioned or donated their revolvers to comply with their own countries’ laws, the White House has not said what became of Trump’s gift, leaving critics to speculate and adding another controversy to the summit’s aftermath.
Among those who immediately acknowledged that the gift posed legal problems at home was Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said the revolver given to him had already been turned over to law enforcement.
“It struck me that my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched,” Carney told reporters, according to the Associated Press. “I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s office said her revolver would be decommissioned before being donated to a military museum.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Erdogan included documentation intended to waive export controls, but that he nevertheless left the revolver behind because importing it into Britain would have been illegal, AP reported.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed his revolver directly to airport police after landing. Officials also said the firearms presented to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten remained at their respective embassies in Ankara and would likewise be taken out of service.
Jetten remarked on how dramatically the gift differed from the kinds of diplomatic souvenirs leaders typically exchange.
“My first reaction was, this is something a bit different to the box of syrup waffles that we gave out at the NATO summit in The Hague,” Jetten said Friday, according to AP. “I think the Turkish president wanted to underscore what we saw during the NATO summit, namely that the Turkish defense industry is among the best in the world.”
Croatian President Zoran Milanović said he did not even realize he had been given a firearm until after returning home.
“I didn’t take it. I shoot from different weapons,” Milanovic said, referring to his political style.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar took a different approach, publicly displaying his revolver on social media.
“An unusual gift from President @RTErdogan at the NATO Summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name,” Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated on X, posting a photograph of the weapon and ammunition.
The uncertainty surrounding Trump’s revolver quickly became a flashpoint on social media, where users questioned whether the president should have accepted it in the first place.
One commenter wrote, “Felons can’t own guns… trump breaks yet another law.”
On the same thread, another user replied, “No, SCOTUS has said that the President can do what ever he wants.”
Another fumed, “Are you f***ing kidding me!? What an atrocious gift! Would hope most of them would throw them in the Bosphorus, if not for the pollution they would cause!”
Others mocked the idea of Trump handling the weapon.
One person wrote, “I would honestly pay good money to see just how inept Trump is with a firearm. … or any vehicle beyond a golf cart, that works too.”
Another questioned the apparent double standard for travelers, posting, “Wtf – I can’t take some wine on the plane but TRUMP gets to carry a gun.”
A fifth commenter added, “Imagine Trump shooting a gun?!?!! His soft ass hands.”
Whether Trump’s revolver ultimately remains with the U.S. government, is transferred to the National Archives as an official diplomatic gift, or is handled another way has not been disclosed.