Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking in studio. Video / Newstalk ZB
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon gave US President Donald Trump a gift after the pair met face-to-face in Korea at Apec – but the US Administration did not reciprocate.
Communications released under the Official Information Act (OIA) revealed the gift – a framed photo of US Marines working with New Zealandsoldiers at the Army School of Bush and Mountain Warfare in the Tararua Range during World War II – was presented via protocol channels, meaning diplomat-to-diplomat.
It cost $407.82.
The documents obtained by Newstalk ZB also confirmed New Zealand left the October bilateral meeting empty-handed.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) summary confirmed the US had “not been planning on a gift exchange” but asked for details of the present to be passed on to the United States’ protocol officer.
In a statement, the ministry said: “There are always discussions about what form meetings take, including whether gifts are exchanged.”
A formal message on the East Asia Summit and Apec Economic Leaders’ Week requesting bilateral meetings gave more details about the exchange.
It stated the “pull aside” between Trump and Luxon was set to be a 15-minute meeting, immediately prior to a leaders’ dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. It added the meeting would have “no officials, ministers, or notetakers”, something that was “a change from what we had previously expected”.
The US had also not been planning on announcing or publicising the meeting.
WhatsApp messages released between Deputy Head of Mission of New Zealand to South Korea Sarah McDowell and the US State Department show McDowell detailing the photograph.
She said it was a framed photo 37.5cm wide and 39.8cm tall, of US troops training in New Zealand during World War II.
Documents obtained by Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act show the US had not been planning on exchanging gifts with Christopher Luxon.
Other messages, which were redacted in the OIA response, were summarised by the ministry.
It stated the WhatsApp conversation was limited to logistical and protocol arrangements in relation to the meeting.
“This included discussion of the timing of arrivals, the names and positions of attendees, and protocol considerations relating to how the two leaders would enter the Korea-hosted dinner in the neighbouring room immediately following the bilateral meeting,” the response read.
Trump and Luxon talked one-on-one prior to a leaders’ dinner at the Apec forum in October 2025. At the time, the pair walked into the dinner together, shaking hands as Trump said New Zealand was a “nice place”.
Luxon quipped that last time he had met the Korean President, who was hosting the dinner they’d arrived to, he’d given him “grief” about his hair, or lack thereof.
Trump responded “your hair is beautiful” and as Luxon walked off towards the dinner table, Trump said “I like your man from New Zealand”.
This was the first in-person meeting between Trump and Luxon, following a phone call between the two when Trump was re-elected as President.
Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.
