WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump is negotiating with the government of Qatar to accept a Boeing 747 as the next presidential plane, which raised questions regarding foreign influence on his administration.
“I would never be one to turn down that type of an offer,” Trump told reporters May 12 at the White House. “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But I thought it was a great gesture.
Trump has been keen since his initial term to replace the two jumbo planes that operate under the name Air Force One when he is on board. As he waited for Boeing to construct a new one, Trump stated Qatar offered one of its aircraft as a gift that would be transferred to the two-term Republican president’s foundation when he retires.
The Defense Department would be able to take the plane as a gift until Boeing completes construction of the new 747s and then the Qatar plane would go to Trump’s presidential library, the president stated. Trump drew a comparison with the 707 at the late President Ronald Reagan’s presidential library.
“It would go directly to the library after I leave office,” Trump said.
Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attache to the U.S., made a statement that reports of Qatar gifting Trump the award during his visit to the Middle East on May 12 to 16 are “inaccurate.”
The potential transfer of a plane to temporary use as Air Force One is in discussion stages between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense, but the issue is still under review by the respective legal departments and no decision has been taken,” Al-Ansari said.
Democrats and others have condemned the possible gift. A provision in the Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause prohibits any U.S. official from receiving “any present” of “any kind whatsoever, from any King, Prince, or foreign state.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-New York, requested the Government Accountability Office, the Defense Department’s inspector general and the Office of Government Ethics on May 11 to probe.
“Worth an estimated $400 million, the aerial palace would be the most expensive gift ever given to a President by a foreign government,” Torres said. “The American people are watching in real time as can only be called a ‘flying grift.'”
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer for Republican President George W. Bush also dissuaded the gift from being accepted.
“Nothing about receiving Air Force One from a foreign government is right,” Fleischer posted May 12 on social media. “It shouldn’t go through foreign hands and it shouldn’t be a gift of a King. Don’t do it.”
Trump retaliated against Democrats on Twitter, stating the plane could be a “GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE” instead of paying “TOP DOLLAR” for the plane. “The Dems are World Class Losers!!!” Trump tweeted May 11.