All that glitters is not gold: South Korea tries to crown a week of gifts to US President Trump

Diplomacy is a difficult, complicated game, full of tricks and snares.

Except, of course, when it isn’t.

Diplomats and world leaders appear to have developed similar strategies in how to deal with United States President Donald Trump, which looks suspiciously like flattery.

South Korea’s president Lee Jae Myung appears to have topped off a week of gifting by presenting Trump a literal golden crown, albeit a replica.

Rare earths

Earlier this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim gave Trump one of the finest welcomes his country could muster, from an entire troop of dancers to a crowd waving Malaysian and U.S. flags.

Then they presented him miles of cleared roads, topping it off with something that Trump seemingly really wanted, to sit before a peace deal signing ceremony where the leaders of both countries literally took turns to be seen signing documents next to him.

Cambodia’s PM Hun Manet even nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026, after he failed to win the 2025 prize.

Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand, the three countries at the signing ceremony, would then go on to sign new trade deals with the U.S., which still saw tariff rates at 19 per cent, but with significant exemptions.

Free Malaysia Today reported that Malaysia’s trade and industry minister, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, reported that his country had secured tariff exemptions on a swath of key exports, such as palm oil, pharmaceuticals, and lowered tariffs on some IT hardware, to name but a few categories, with a view towards securing a similarly favourable deal for semiconductor exports.

In return, the U.S. will gain access to rare earth minerals produced in Malaysia, although former Economic Affairs Minister and now member of Malaysia’s opposition, Azmin Ali, accused Anwar of giving the U.S. an unprecedented level of control over Malaysia’s economy.

Rice, beef, and golf

Japan’s PM Sanae Takaichi, who had flown back from KL just in time to prepare for Trump’s visit to Japan, also spared no expense.

The BBC reported that the visit’s menu was made with “American rice and American beef”, two ingredients that have long been sticking points in the U.S and Japan’s trading relationship.

Japan has long taken a protectionist stance when it comes to its agricultural products, particularly rice and beef, subjecting the former to quotas and the latter to tariffs.

The U.S. and Japan signed a new trade deal meant to bolster supplies of rare earths and other minerals, a key priority for the Trump administration.

Takaichi also played up personal connections to the late Shinzo Abe, who had been Japan’s PM during the entirety of Trump’s first term and, as Reuters described him, a “golfing buddy”.

Abe was often seen as Takaichi’s mentor, and she gifted Trump a golf club used by the deceased Abe, as well as a gold-leafed golf ball and a golf bag signed by a prominent Japanese golfer.

She also reportedly said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Crowning achievement

But South Korean President Lee Jae Myung appears to have adopted the “go big or go home” school of gift giving.

Lee gifted Trump a literal gold crown, a replica of one on display in the Hyeongju National Museum, as reported by Bloomberg.

Lee said that the crown symbolises the spirit of Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that Lee said “brought peace to the Korean Peninsula” by, as the article Bloomberg linked to said, conquering the other two kingdoms on the Korean peninsula.

Not content with nominating Trump for a prize, Lee instead awarded Trump a prize himself, the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the Korean government’s highest award, in “recognition of his peacemaking efforts”.

The gift comes at an odd time, as Trump faces protests at home, specifically accusing him of being a king.

Trump is well aware of the "No Kings" protests, having released an AI video of him... retaliating against the protestors while wearing a crown.

His administration is also aware of the symbolism, having released a series of mocking pictures directed at Trump's political opponents, suggesting what a Halloween package might contain to emulate them.

But for the image about Trump, it lauds him for his electoral victories, but says the package would come without a crown.

Well, maybe it will.

Top image via AFP