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[h1]Obama's blockbuster gift for Brown to reaffirm the 'special relationship': 25 DVDs
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By Joe Murphy
Last updated at 5:19 PM on 05th March 2009
Gordon Brown has been given a collection of 25 classic American films on DVD as his official gift from Barack Obama.
The Prime Minister flew home from his successful trip to Washington this morning with the 'special collector's box' of films hidden in his luggage.
No 10 had tried to keep the present a secret, refusing to answer reporters who asked what President Obama had given to mark the reaffirmation of the special relationship.
Marking the special relationship: The Browns put a lot of thought into their gifts for the Obamas - but the gesture did not seem to be reciprocated
However, the London Evening Standard reported, the prime minister received the collection of DVDs as his gift.
It is not known which DVDs were included, but one is thought to be the Dreamworks film Toy Story.
One reason for the secrecy might be that the gift seems markedly less generous and thoughtful than the presents taken to Washington by the Prime Minister.
Mr Brown's gifts included an ornamental desk pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, once named HMS President.
Mr Obama was so delighted he has already put it in pride of place in the Oval Office on the Resolute desk which was carved from timbers of Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute.
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Another treasure given to the U.S. President was the framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to symbolise Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria.
Finally, Mr Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.
The White House issued a press briefing today that put on record how much Mr Obama had appreciated the gifts.
The Prime Minister's reaction to getting DVDs is not known. Mr Brown is not noted for his love of cinema, although he once claimed on a trip to India that he was an admirer of Bollywood.
The Browns showered gifts on the Obama children too, using the occasion to promote British exports.
Mrs Brown has been praised for her well-chosen gifts for the Obama children - but Mrs Obama's gift to the Brown children appeared less thoughtful
Sarah Brown gave Sasha and Malia Obama an outfit each from Topshop, which has just opened its first American store in New York.
She also picked six children's books by British authors which are shortly to be published in America.
But the British press has already accused the Obamas of gaffing over the gifts they gave in return.
The Obamas gave the Browns two models of the presidential helicopter, Marine One, to take home to sons Fraser and John.
Though Mrs Brown's choice of gifts was praised as thoughtful, Mrs Obama's choice of gifts for Fraser and John was 'solipsistic'.
'Mrs Brown may have two boys but she certainly knows the way to a little girl's heart,' columnist Sarah Vine wrote in the Times. 'These were gifts chosen in the true spirit of present-giving: to please the recipient, not the giver.'
Giving the Browns' two young boys a helicopter was 'fair enough', she said.
But she added: 'Marine One? It's not as though anyone needs reminding that Barack Obama is President or that he has his own helicopter.
'Short of giving the boys Action Man models of her own husband smiting the evil forces of neoconservatism, Mrs Obama's gesture could not have been more solipsistic or more inherently dismissive of Mrs Brown.
'Not only did she demonstrate that she spent approximately three seconds contemplating the needs of the Brown boys (having an aide pop to the White House gift shop for a piece of merchandising does not imply a great deal of thought), she appeared to show a most uncharacteristic lapse of judgement.'
President Obama telephoned Mr Brown on board his plane last night to thank him for a productive visit.
You are president of the United States and you give a head of state 25 DVD's?
