Personal ties: Little brought forth potato-themed gift to D.C. visit with Trump
We’ve all been there: What do you get for the person who seemingly has everything?
If you’re from Idaho, and that person is President Donald Trump, the answer is apparently a potato-patterned tie.
Gov. Brad Little gifted Trump – the richest-ever U.S. president, now with a Forbes estimate of $7.3 billion in personal wealth – more than a dozen of the custom Vineyard Vines ties on a visit to the White House last week. During a prior trip to Washington, D.C., Little also gave Trump one of the potato ties, and learned later on that the president supposedly liked Idaho’s prior token of appreciation.
“As Idaho’s Potato Promoter-in-Chief, Gov. Little proudly delivered to President Trump a box of ties,” Joan Varsek, Little’s spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman of the most recent visit. “Gov. Little wanted to ensure President Trump and his team never run short of potato ties.”
The ties came via the Idaho Potato Commission, which started the tradition about 30 years ago as another way to advertise the state’s most famous crop, Varsek said. The neckties are valued at $38 apiece.
Trump signed one of the ties, which Little brought back with him to Idaho. The president also issued a repeat endorsement of Little for reelection, even though the Republican governor has yet to indicate whether he will seek a third term in 2026.
Trump, the 45th and 47th president, remains popular in Idaho among many state and federal elected officials and its conservative electorate. In the 2024 presidential election, Trump earned about 67% of the vote in Idaho – which he also carried with ease in 2020 and in 2016 despite having never personally campaigned in or visited the state.
“I am so pleased I was able to meet with President Trump and his team during a productive and patriotic visit to Capitol Hill,” Little said in a statement. “We covered a lot of ground in our discussions, and I renewed an invitation to the president to visit Idaho.”
On his trip to D.C., Little also said he advocated for Idaho priorities in meetings with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, as well as several Trump Cabinet members: Attorney General Pam Bondi, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, among others.
Little also caught up with his former budget chief, Alex Adams, who was recently confirmed for a presidential appointment to a post in the administration within the Department of Health and Human Services.
“They discussed Idaho’s historic child welfare reforms and how Idaho serves as a model for the nation. They also discussed ways to cut red tape to allow Idaho’s reform efforts to go even further,” according to a news release.
A scheduled discussion between Little and Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, addressed Idaho’s efforts to break into Japan’s market with its top agricultural product: potatoes. Idaho is the top producer of spuds in the U.S., per the Department of Agriculture, and Little embarked upon a trade mission to Japan in November 2024.
No word if he did so bearing gifts of custom Idaho potato ties.