A luxury jet from Qatar. A pair of leopards from Saudi Arabia. And now, the latest foreign gifts to arrive in President Trump’s Washington are “exquisitely crafted” gazebos, courtesy of the president of Uzbekistan.
The Uzbek gazebos will be exhibited in West Potomac Park, the site of Mr. Trump’s planned National Garden of American Heroes. Trucks carrying huge boxes with postage labels from Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, were spotted there in recent days. Parks in Uzbekistan feature gazebos with intricate, traditional Central Asian woodcarving.
“President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan generously donated the traditional Uzbek gazebos to President Donald J. Trump, who accepted them on behalf of the people of the United States of America,” said Katie Martin, the communications director for the Interior Department. “Visitors to West Potomac Park will be able to enjoy the exquisitely crafted aywans later this fall.”
Mr. Trump is planning an expansive project in West Potomac Park, an area of mostly sports fields near the National Mall, that would include reflecting pools, dining facilities and an amphitheater alongside 250 life-size statues of notable Americans. Near the proposed Garden of Heroes is a golf course that Mr. Trump has proposed making into a luxury destination.
But both projects are in the early planning stages, according to Trump administration officials. Any plans for the Garden of Heroes would typically go through the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, including the designs for individual statues.
The Justice Department told a federal court this week that the Garden of Heroes remains merely a “vision” of the president’s that is “still a preliminary concept.”
In June, the United States and Uzbekistan accelerated negotiations toward a trade and investment deal.
Uzbekistan committed to eliminating or reducing tariffs on a wide range of U.S. industrial goods and agricultural products. The United States committed to providing “favorable consideration” in tariff actions for Uzbek industrial goods and agricultural products.
Last year, Mr. Trump and Mr. Mirziyoyev announced what they said was $32 billion in bilateral commercial deals. The United States also supports Uzbekistan in its World Trade Organization accession process.
Mr. Trump called Mr. Mirziyoyev “Highly Respected” in a social media post and congratulated him on buying $8 billion worth of Boeing airplanes.
Andrew Leyden contributed reporting.
