President Trump, seen here boarding Air Force One Joint Base Andrews on March 21, is said to have been offered a new plane by Qatar.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
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Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration is in talks with the Qatari government about accepting a luxury Boeing 747 airplane, a senior White House official said, that could temporarily serve as Air Force One.
The offer, which was first reported by ABC News, comes on the eve of Trump’s visit to the Middle East. The president is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that Qatar has offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense, but said the gift will not be presented nor accepted this week while in Qatar.
ABC and The New York Times reported that the plane would be donated to Trump’s presidential library when he leaves office. The offer would be one of the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the U.S. government, and raises legal and ethical questions.
Trump pushed back against those concerns in a post on his Truth social Sunday night.
He wrote: “So the fact that the Defense 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. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!”
Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokeswoman, said that 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,” she said.
Democrats questioned whether the deal was even legal.
“This isn’t a good idea even if the plane was being donated to the U.S. government,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on X. “But Trump GET TO KEEP THE PLANE??? It’s simply a cash payment to Trump in exchange for favors. Just wildly illegal.”
In his first term, Trump struck a deal with Boeing to supply the next generation of Air Force One. Under the terms of that deal, Trump agreed to pay $3.9 billion for two customized 747s. But the president has expressed frustration about the time the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer is taking to deliver the aircraft.
