In Donald Trump’s vision, he’s set to usher in an American “golden age” in which the nation makes more of the world’s goods and sells more of its product.
But when it comes to the president’s personal travel, he’s ready to ditch the old 747 known as Air Force One in favor of a luxe jet that the , a tiny yet rich Arab country nearly 7,000 miles away, wants to gift to the U.S.
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The image of the 'America First' president floating above the clouds in Qatari splendor doesn’t sit well with some of the MAGA faithful, much less the good government groups who warn the deal may run afoul of the constitutional clause that bars gifts from foreign nations absent congressional approval.
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"That's a pretty strange offer," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. said.
Laura Loomer, a Trump ally, that while she would “take a bullet” for the president, accepting a plane from Qatar would be “such a stain” on the Trump administration. “I’m so disappointed,” she wrote.
In a post Sunday, Rep. Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, didn’t specifically mention Trump or the Qatari plane, but invoked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her family foundation’s
U.S. & World
“At a minimum, ‘bad idea,’” .
Trump was unapologetic in a public appearance Monday. He said that the plane will someday be an exhibit in his presidential library after he leaves office and added he wouldn’t use it as a private citizen.
He commended Qatar for what he described as a generous and welcome offer. A peninsula that juts into the Persian Gulf, Qatar is one stop on the president’s visit this week to the Middle East, the .
“They’re giving us a free jet,” Trump said. “I could say, ‘No, no, no, don’t give us. I want to pay you a billion or $400 million, or whatever it is,’ or I could say, ‘Thank you very much.’ You know?”
A Qatar press official, Ali Al-Ansari, said in a statement Sunday said the deal still under review.
"The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made," he said.
Trump reiterated his frustration over the time it’s taken for Boeing to complete jets that will replace the 747s that he is using now. The new planes may not be ready until 2027, the midpoint of Trump’s term.
Converting the Qatari gift into Air Force One would require an overhaul that would take years to carry out and raise possible security concerns, according to three aviation and intelligence experts. It would likely would have to be effectively dismantled, part by part, to ensure there were no listening devices or other security vulnerabilities that could allow foreign powers to eavesdrop.
Air Force One is more than a means of presidential travel. With its distinctive blue and white, it is an emblem of American power and prestige. It functions as a kind of flying bunker for the commander in chief, capable of withstanding a nuclear blast. If the transfer happens, Air Force One would acquire what some describe as a foreign taint for this quintessential symbol of American pride.
The Qatari plane and its whiff of excess would also seem at odds with Trump's message that Americans may have to make do with less as he remakes the global economic order. and pencils for America's children, while the president flies in style.
Ari Fleischer, who was press secretary in Republican President George W. Bush’s White House, that “Nothing about getting Air Force One from a foreign government feels right.”
“Air Force One should be American through and through,” Fleischer added. “It shouldn’t pass through foreign hands and it shouldn’t be a gift from a king. Don’t do it.”
Trump first toured the Qatari plane in February at the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago home. Known as the “flying palace,” the aircraft clearly made a favorable impression.
“You look at some of the Arab countries and the planes they have parked alongside of the United States of America plane. It’s like from a different planet,” Trump told reporters Monday.
During his first term, Trump complained that Air Force One wasn’t as luxurious inside as his private plane, a former White House official said. Asked for comment, the White House did not immediately respond.
Congress’ GOP leaders gave muted responses when questioned about the swap Trump envisions. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana declined comment. Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said, “I don’t know enough about it yet, and I don’t know there’s even been any offer.”
Getting Congress to approve the present, in keeping with the constitution’s emoluments clause, would seem a heavy lift. A 60-vote supermajority would be required for Senate passage.
But if Trump forges ahead and accepts the plane without Congress’ assent, there may not be much to stop him. He demonstrated in his first term that he has little to fear by way of impeachment.
“Is Congress going to impeach him? Probably not,” said Richard Painter, who was chief ethics lawyer in George W. Bush’s White House.
What’s more, the Supreme Court gave presidents broad immunity from prosecution in a landmark ruling last year.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has insisted any accepted gifts will be in accordance with the law.
by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,” Leavitt said. “President Trump’s administration is committed to full transparency.”
Perhaps the only scenario Trump may need to worry about is that, after he leaves office, a future president may try to reclaim the aircraft for the U.S., seizing it from the Trump library.
“You might have a future administration file suit and seek to repossess the plane as property of the U.S. government, because it should never have been accepted to begin with,” Painter said.
Newt Gingrich, a former Republican House speaker and Trump ally, said that “in an ideal world,” Trump would get Congress to approve the gift.
“The lawyers have to go through some hoops here, but if there is no quid pro quo and it’s all out in the open in public, it doesn’t strike me as an automatic problem,” Gingrich told 온라인카지노사이트 News.
Ethics advisers in past administrations said they were wary of expensive gifts from foreign sources, no matter the reason. When President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in his first term, he refused the more than $1 million that comes with it. Instead, the Nobel committee distributed the prize money among various charities, said Norm Eisen, who was a special counsel for ethics and government reform in the Obama administration.
Painter recalled that during the Bush administration, Saudi Arabia’s government offered a Rolex watch to a senior White House official.
“We saw to it that the gift was either returned or turned over to the U.S. government,” Painter said. “We weren’t going to have one of our top White House national security officials running around with a Rolex watch from the Saudis."
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