President Trump has sometimes likened himself to a king. Now he has been given a crown.
Or at least a replica of one that researchers believe was worn by an ancient Korean ruler. Mr. Trump received the crown from President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea when they met on Wednesday in the city of Gyeongju.
During the ceremony at the Gyeongju National Museum, Mr. Trump shook hands with Mr. Lee and thanked him for the gift, saying it was “very special.”
Mr. Lee also gave Mr. Trump the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest decoration, in the form of a shiny, ornate necklace.
“I’d like to wear it right now,” Mr. Trump said.
Earlier this month, demonstrators turned out in droves in cities and towns across the United States for “No Kings” rallies, where protesters condemned Mr. Trump for acting, in their view, like a monarch. Though the president has previously embraced regal themes, he said in response to the protests that he was “not a king.”
The roughly foot-tall replica crown given to Mr. Trump is a reproduction of one of South Korea’s national treasures. It is a copy of one from the Silla Kingdom, a dynasty that gradually expanded over hundreds of years, starting in the first century B.C., and eventually conquered rival kingdoms to dominate the Korean Peninsula.
Gyeongju was the ancient Silla capital, and royal tombs buried under giant grass-covered earthen mounds are still scattered around the city of 240,000 people. That rich cultural heritage led South Korean officials to choose it as the venue for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this week, even though it lacks the infrastructure to host a major international event.
The Silla dynasty was known as the “Golden Kingdom” for its use of gold. The headpiece Mr. Trump received is a replica of one of six gold crowns excavated from Gyeongju’s royal tombs, alongside gilded jewelry, belts and other ornaments.
The crown was excavated in 1973 from a tomb, known as the Cheonmachong, that researchers believe belonged to the 21st or 22nd Silla king. It is the “largest and most extravagant” of the six crowns, a spokesman for Mr. Lee told Mr. Trump during the ceremony.
The crown symbolized the “divine connection between the authority of the heavens and sovereignty on earth,” the spokesman said, as Mr. Trump stared at the crown. It also represented “the spirit of Silla, which brought peace to the Korean Peninsula for the first time,” the spokesman said.
The headpiece consists of a headband with upright, branchlike attachments, all gold. Small pieces of jade are attached to it by fine wires, and chains of spangles and leaf shapes hang from the headband.
Mr. Trump did not express a desire to wear the replica crown, which was inside a glass box. But he and Mr. Lee went to see the real version in the museum, according to the White House.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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