Leading Democrats are sounding the alarm over Donald Trump’s reported plan to divert funds from the US nuclear arsenal to convert a luxury jet gifted by Qatar into a new Air Force One.
The US president provoked an outcry in May when it emerged that he would accept a $400m Boeing 747-8 jet as a free gift from the Qatari royal family. Stripping down and securing the plane so it can transport Trump for a few years will cost taxpayers an estimated $1bn.
Now Democrats are seizing on media reports that the retrofit will be partly funded by money redirected from Sentinel, a nuclear missile modernisation programme already running years behind schedule and said to be 81% over budget.
In a letter obtained by the Guardian, senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Ed Markey and Adam Schiff, along with representatives John Garamendi and Jamie Raskin, demand answers from Troy Meink, the secretary of the air force.
The letter reminds Meink that, in testimony to the Senate armed services committee, he acknowledged the Qatari plane needs “significant modifications” to meet Air Force One standards. These are likely to include defences against threats ranging from surface-to-air missiles to a nuclear blast, secure and reliable communications systems, and protections against counterintelligence.
The Democrats write: “In June, you told Congress that the cost of retrofitting the Qatari Boeing 747-8 ‘wouldn’t be anywhere near’ the reported $1 billion estimate. Do you still believe this to be the case?”
The air force has reportedly assessed $934m previously appropriated for the Sentinel programme as “excess to need”, allowing these funds to be used for other classified programmes, including the retrofits for the Qatari jet.
In their letter, the Democrats ask Meink: “Has the Air Force assessed whether shifting funds out of the Sentinel program will increase the program’s costs or risk further delaying the program’s schedule?
“Did or will any of the $934 million from the Sentinel program go to retrofits for the Qatari Boeing 747-8, or were or will those funds be diverted to other programs?”
Warren and her colleagues criticise a lack of transparency, noting that the total price tag for the Qatari jet retrofit is classified, preventing policymakers and the public from understanding if “additional retrofit costs will eat into other Air Force programs beyond Sentinel”.
The Democrats request a commitment from the air force to ensure that it is “fully cooperating with any independent investigation into the acceptance of the Qatari jet and/or the Qatari jet’s retrofitting”.
Democrats have previously suggested that the gift to Trump likely violates the constitution’s prohibition on accepting foreign emoluments. They point out that the jet would only be used by the government for a few years at most before being donated to Trump’s presidential library.
Trump has previously defended the ethics of his decision. He said: “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I could be a stupid person and say: ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
He also compared it with “favours on the golf course. When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say: ‘Thank you very much.’”
But the senators and representatives take a different view. “However,” they write, “by providing the president with a ‘palace in the sky’ it clearly appears that Qatar is trying to curry favor with the administration.”
Meanwhile the Trump Organization recently announced a new Trump-branded resort along the coast of Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a property company backed by that country’s sovereign wealth fund.
