The President was responding to Brown in the same way that Brown behaved towards Bush.

Gordon Brown was desperate to be the first European leader in Washington and to try and impress his domestic audience. It was his only hope after making a complete mess of things in the UK for over 11 years. Don't forget that he is also responsible for a lot of the economic problems facing us all today.

Brown is certainly not a leader to listen to or copy - he has not thought anything out properly for years and has plunged the UK into the mire.

Well done Mr President for adopting exactly the right tone during this visit.

By the way, Brown himself will have put very little thought into the gifts and his office only asked for some ideas a couple of days before the visit.