As President Trump returned from his trip to the Middle East laden with costly personal gifts, including the "flying palace" airliner, family business deals, and billion dollar investments in STrump coinage, he has flagrantly violated the foreign emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution, as well as former guidelines against such massive grift by a U.S. President.

An episode showing contrasting behavior occurred when President Nixon visited Saudi Arabia in the 1970s. Jim Akins was the U.S. Ambassador. His wife told me in a conversation some years later about that visit.

The Presidential couple were accommodated in a large apartment with elaborate furnishings. One object that fascinated the President was a fine crystal bowl. Ambassador Akins became aware that Nixon had told his staff to pack the bowl in his luggage
upon departure from Riyahd. Knowing that the bowl had not been "gifted" to Nixon, Akins quietly told the staffer to put it back in the apartment.

Such scrupulous respect for standards regarding Presidential "gifts" seems a quaint memory in the era of Trump's ill-gotten largess.
                                        

James Matlack lives in Camden