Hillary Clinton has reacted with disdain to President Donald Trump’s decision to accept a $400m Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, warning him that the givers will expect something “in return” for their generosity.
“No one gives someone a $400 million jet for free without expecting anything in return. Be serious,” the former U.S. first lady, secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate wrote on X on Wednesday.
Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump – a period that saw his supporters chant “Lock her up!” at his rallies – but she has remained a thorn in his side ever since, often pouring scorn on his actions from the sidelines as a pundit.
Trump was in Qatar on Wednesday as part of the first major overseas trip of his second term. He also visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and will head to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
But the diplomatic mission has been overshadowed by ethics concerns about his decision to accept the jet, which he intends to use as a replacement for Air Force One. He dismissed the unease by saying that only a “stupid person” would have rejected such an offer.
Trump’s Department of Justice lawyers have swiftly ruled that accepting the gift would break no laws. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House lawyer David Warrington said the donation of the aircraft would be “legally permissible” given that its ownership would be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation before the end of his term.
But Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, for one, has expressed his outrage and written to the Government Accountability Office to blast the gesture as a “flying grift,” arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause.
Columbia Law School Professor Richard Briffault has meanwhile told NPR that if Trump retains ownership of the plane after leaving office, in spite of his claim on Truth Social that it will ultimately be given to the Department of Defense, “then it’s not really a gift to the United States at all” and instead amounts to a “pretty textbook case of a violation of the emoluments clause.”
Professor Briffault further warned, like Clinton, that accepting any present leaves the recipient beholden to the gift-giver, arguing that gestures like Qatar’s are “designed to create good feelings for the recipient and to get some kind of reciprocity.”
Another major cause of concern is the eye-watering cost of retrofitting the jet, reportedly so luxurious inside as to amount to “a flying palace,” to make it an acceptable substitute for the presidential plane.
Experts warn that it would take several years and require billions of dollars in further investment from the American taxpayer to ensure it meets the necessary standards to replace Air Force One.
It would require secure communications, electromagnetic shielding, and in-flight refueling capabilities, to name just three necessary upgrades.
A private contractor would, in all probability, have to rip the plane apart before it was fit for use, and aviation experts cited by NBC News have put the bill at $1bn, more than twice the plane’s worth.
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