Donald Trump fired back at his critics as the US President appeared to confirm a hugely controversial plan to accept the offer of a $400million (£300)“flying palace” from the Qatari royal family to replace Air Force One.
The luxury Boeing 747-8 plane, which would be one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the US government, would eventually be donated to Trump's presidential library after he leaves office, a source said.
Trump appeared to confirm the proposal in a post on his social media site Truth Social late on Sunday.
“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,” he wrote.
Democrats said it was unethical and probably unconstitutional for Qatar to make such a gift.
“Nothing says 'America First' like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X. “It's not just bribery, it's premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
The planned gift has also attracted criticism from some of Trump's most loyal MAGA followers.
Laura Loomer wrote on X: “I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him.
“But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits.”
The MAGA influencer claimed Qataris “fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members. The same proxies that have worked with the Mexican cartels to get jihadists across our border.”
She added: “This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump.
“I'm so disappointed.”
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 spokesperson, 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.
ABC News was first to report the planned gift on Sunday.
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, 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.
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, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a good government 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 $400 million gift right before he meets with their head of state,” the spokesman, Jordan Libowitz, said.
Trump is set to visit Qatar during a trip to the Middle East this week. The airplane will not be presented or accepted while 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 Defense Department to accept the plane as a gift and later transfer it to Trump's presidential library.
