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

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 candidness prompted a nudge from his co-interviewee, First Lady Michelle Obama.

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

But Obama ceded 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.

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 apparently did not work on a European player.

He also raised eyebrows by giving the Queen of England an iPod and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a copy of the sheet music for "The Star Spangled Banner."

Obama meanwhile has received a taekwondo outfit from South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, a book from his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez and a jersey from a Stanley Cup-winning ice hockey team.

In the conversational interview, the US president said his all-time favorite gifts were a 10-speed bicycle he received one year and a basketball his estranged 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, 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.

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

(Agencies)