Nikki Haley, who served as Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations during his first term, admonished the president for accepting the Qatari royal family's privet jet to be used as the administration's Air Force One.
"Accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice," Haley wrote in an X post shared Tuesday. "It threatens intelligence and national security. Especially when that nation supports a terrorist organization and allows those terrorist regimes to live on its soil."
"Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and US can be bought," Haley continued, adding, "If this were Biden, we would be furious."
Accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice. It threatens intelligence and national security. Especially when that nation supports a terrorist organization and allows those terrorist regimes to live on its soil. Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it…
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) May 13, 2025
Haley and Trump have disagreed in the past, with Haley previously calling him a "disaster" while she was campaigning against him in the Republican presidential primary last year. The governor of South Carolina later endorsed Trump for president because she deemed Joe Biden a "catastrophe," according to Politico.
Trump defended his decision to accept the jet during a press conference on Monday, stating he "could say 'no, no, I want to pay you $400 million,' or I could say 'thank you very much.'" He added that he would be "stupid" not to accept the offer.
However, his controversial decision has unsurprisingly drawn bipartisan criticism from both supporters and opponents. Republican Sen. Rand Paul told Fox News on Tuesday he thinks "there will have to be some kind of adjudication."
"This has never been done, and it's not like a ride on the plane, it's the entire $400 million plane. I think it's not worth the appearance of impropriety. Whether it's improper or not. I don't think it's worth it," Paul stated.
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