Will the US receive a luxury 747 from Qatar to serve as Air Force One?
Reuters quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying that the administration of US President Donald Trump plans to receive a Boeing 747-8 aircraft as a gift from the Qatar Royal family, and this aircraft will be equipped to serve as Air Force One.
The luxury jet, one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the US government, will eventually be donated to Mr Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office, the source said. A new commercial 747-8 costs about $400 million.
In a post on his social media site Truth Social late on May 11, Mr. Trump appeared to confirm the proposal.
"The fact that the Department of Defense received a gift, absolutely free, of a 747 to temporarily replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, in a very public and transparent transaction, has so upset crooked Democrats that they insist we pay exorbitant prices for the plane," he wrote.
Democrats say Qatar's gift of such a gift is unethical and potentially unconstitutional. "Nothing says 'America First' like Air Force One, provided by Qatar," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X. "This is not just a bribe, it's a massive outside influence in the form of extra legroom."
"Any gifts from foreign governments are always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. The Trump Administration is committed to complete transparency," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Qatar spokesman Ali Al-Ansari told the New York Times that the transfer of the plane was still under review and “no decision has been made,” the paper reported.
ABC News first reported the giveaway on May 11.
Mr. Trump has expressed frustration with delays in the delivery of two new 747-8s for the upgraded Air Force One. During his first term, Mr. Trump reached an agreement with Boeing to deliver the planes by 2024. An Air Force official told Congress last week that Boeing had proposed completing the planes by 2027.
Mr. Trump toured the Qatar-owned 747-8 in February while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago resort. At the time, the White House said the president did so to better understand how the upgraded Air Force One planes would be configured.
In a statement, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a Washington-based good government group, questioned whether the transfer violated the Constitution's prohibition on U.S. officials accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.
“This certainly looks like a foreign country with which the president has personal business dealings is giving the president a $400 million gift right before he meets with their head of state,” said spokesman Jordan Libowitz.
Mr Trump is expected to visit Qatar during his Middle East trip this week. The plane will not be donated or accepted while Mr Trump is in Qatar.
ABC reported, citing sources, that lawyers from the White House Counsel's Office and the Justice Department prepared an analysis concluding that it was legal and constitutional for the Defense Department to accept the plane as a gift and then transfer it to Mr. Trump's presidential library.
