Trump plans to accept luxury 747 plane from Qatar to use as Air Force One
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US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration at the delays in delivering two new 747-8 aircraft from Boeing to serve as an updated Air Force One.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump’s administration intends to accept a Boeing 747-8 plane as a gift from the Qatari royal family that would then be outfitted to serve him as Air Force One, according to a source briefed on the matter.
The luxury plane, which would be one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the US government, would eventually be donated to Mr Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office, the source said. A new commercial 747-8 costs approximately US$400 million (S$519.4 million).
In a post on his social media site Truth Social late on May 11, Mr Trump appeared to confirm the proposal.
“So the fact that the Defence Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” he wrote.
Democrats and good-government advocates condemned the proposal, saying it raised massive ethical and legal concerns.
“Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on social media platform X. “It’s not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s administration is committed to full transparency.”
A Qatari spokesman, Mr Ali Al-Ansari, told The New York Times that the possible transfer of the aircraft was still under consideration and “no decision has been made”, the newspaper reported.
Mr Trump has expressed frustration at the delays in delivering two new 747-8 aircraft to serve as an updated Air Force One.
During his first term, Mr Trump had reached a deal with Boeing to deliver the jets in 2024. A US Air Force official told Congress last week that Boeing had proposed finishing the planes by 2027.
Mr Trump toured the Qatari-owned 747-8 in February when 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 get a better understanding of how the updated Air Force One planes would be configured.
In a statement, spokesman Jordan Libowitz for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a government watchdog organisation based in Washington, questioned whether the transfer might violate the Constitution’s ban on US officials accepting gifts from foreign governments absent congressional approval.
“This sure looks like a foreign country that the President has personal business dealings in giving the President a US$400 million gift right before he meets with its head of state,” Mr Libowitz said.
Mr Trump is set to visit Qatar during a trip to the Middle East this week. The airplane will not be presented or accepted while Mr Trump is in Qatar.
ABC reported, citing sources, that lawyers for the White House counsel’s office and the Department of Justice had prepared an analysis concluding that it would be legal and constitutional for the Defence Department to accept the plane as a gift and later transfer it to Mr Trump’s presidential library. REUTERS
