Video: UAE gifts Trump a Single "Drop of Oil"

Trump: "This is the highest quality"

President Donald Trump made light of a gift from the United Arab Emirates on Friday, when he was gifted a box from UAE officials containing a single drop of oil.

“This is the highest quality oil there is on the planet. But they only gave me a drop,” he said, laughing.

But that one drop may have a much bigger meaning.

One of the world’s biggest oil exporters, the UAE has said it will celebrate the last barrel of oil it produces as it embarks on a massive drive to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons.

“In 50 years’ time, we will celebrate the last barrel of oil,” UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in 2015. “Oil was an exhaustible resource, and therefore we should lay down our future development plans based on this premise.”

Oil accounts for about 60 percent of government revenues and less than 30 percent of its GDP, much lower than neighboring oil-rich Gulf countries.