The President's Trophy Room

By Richard Leiby
Wednesday, June 2, 2004; Page C03

The pistol wielded by Saddam Hussein when he was captured in his spider hole last year isn't the only war relic President Bush is fond of showing visitors to the White House. Recent guests tell us that Bush proudly displays two other iconic items in a study off the Oval Office: a brick from Taliban leader Mohammad Omar's home in Kandahar, and a roughly two-foot-high cross made of steel recovered from the World Trade Center wreckage.

In this week's issue, Time magazine discloses that Saddam's pistol was given to Bush by military officials. The White House confirmed to us yesterday that he keeps the cross and the brick on display with the gun but gave no details.

"They're things that mark for him major events in the war on terror," Washington philanthropist George Vradenburg, who saw the president's memorabilia in March, told us yesterday. Another visitor, who asked not to be identified, said the collection is in the same private area where Bush's predecessor once trysted with Monica Lewinsky.

The three items seem to symbolize "the terrorists' declaration of war on us and two responses, two successes -- removing Mullah Omar from power and capturing Saddam Hussein," Vradenburg said. "These things obviously have meaning to him and importance to him. And rightfully so."

The collection isn't entirely somber. It also includes a few bobble-head dolls depicting the president -- which, we're told, Bush likes to flick with his finger for guests' amusement.