奥巴马夫妇接受奥普拉采访 互比圣诞礼物

The White House may be bedecked with baubles¹ and awash with Christmas cheer, but its most famous resident appears a tad disgruntled with Santa.

现在的白宫可能已经挂满了各种圣诞装饰，洋溢着浓浓的圣诞气氛，但这里最著名的居民对圣诞老人却似乎颇有微词。

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sit down with Oprah Winfrey for the "White House Christmas Special," a less rigid interview than the President's "60 Minutes" sitdown.

When it comes to gifts, "I give nicer stuff than I get," President Barack Obama said half-jokingly in an interview aired on ABC television Sunday.

Quizzed about Christmas-time giving by Oprah Winfrey -- a close friend and backer from his hometown of Chicago -- Obama's candidness³ prompted a nudge用肘轻推 from his co-interviewee, First Lady Michelle Obama.

"No way!" she shot back, "I gave you good gifts last year."

But Obama ceded⁴割让，放弃 little ground: "Absolutely -- aw, come on please," he said pointing to a double-stranded pearl necklace that was a gift for their wedding anniversary.

"Who gave you this?" he asked with a grin露齿而笑，咧着嘴笑.

Michelle Obama may not be alone in questioning the president's claim to gift-giving greatness.

The 48-year-old was earlier criticized when he presented British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a DVD set of Hollywood films, which apparently⁵ did not work on a European player.

He also raised eyebrows⁶惊讶，不同意 by giving the Queen of England an iPod and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a copy of the sheet music for "The Star Spangled装饰着的，闪烁的 Banner."

Obama meanwhile has received a taekwondo跆拳道 outfit⁷ from South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, a book from his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez and a jersey运动衫 from a Stanley Cup-winning ice hockey冰上曲棍球 team.

In the conversational⁹ interview, the US president said his all-time favorite gifts were a 10-speed bicycle he received one year and a basketball his estranged¹⁰不和的，疏远的 father gave him one Christmas.

"You know, I do remember the one time I met my father he was visiting during Christmas and he gave me a basketball and -- the degree to which I came to love basketball -- it wasn't until much later in life that I realized, 'Actually, he gave me that basketball,'" Obama recalled.

The intimate亲密的, hour-long special also features Winfrey's first one-on-one conversation with the president, an interview with the first couple and behind-the-scenes preparations for the holiday season at the White House.