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Donald Trump and his administration are planning to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, one that Trump’s presidential library will reportedly take possession of after he leaves office. The blatant corruption has drawn outrage from Democrats as well as some of Trump’s closest allies, while Trump has lashed out at critics of the deal, saying it would be “stupid” to not accept the gift — never mind Qatar’s history of using its wealth to buy political influence.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt scoffed at the idea that Qatar would expect anything in return for the jet, insisting that the nation understands that Trump “only works with the interest of the American public in mind,” as she put it to Fox News on Monday.
It is now apparently in the interest of the American public to “protect” Qatar, which, as several Republicans have pointed out this week, has helped fund Hamas.
“We have never had a relationship with Qatar as strong as it is now,” Trump said during his trip to the Middle East. “We are going to protect you.”
“We are going to protect this country,” he continued. “It’s a very special place, with a special royal family. … They are great people and they are going to be protected by the United States of America.”
ABC News reported on Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing to accept a luxury jet from Qatar worth nearly half of a billion dollars, and that it will serve as Air Force One until Trump leaves office, at which point it’s expected to fall into the possession of his presidential library. The Constitution explicitly prohibits presidents from accepting “any present” of “any kind” from a foreign nation.
It’s highly unlikely Qatar gifted Trump the jet as an act of pure generosity, as Trump and his administration have claimed. Qatar has a history of trying to buy influence from other nations, including by allegedly paying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s media advisers to promote Qatari interests in Israel.
Trump saying that America’s relationship with Qatar has never been stronger than it is now — and vowing to “protect” the nation days after it gifted him a luxury jet — certainly isn’t a good look, nor is the fact that his company recently announced it is developing a golf resort in Qatar.
It’s probably not a coincidence that Trump’s first official international trip of his second term took him to Qatar and other nations in the Middle East, which is quickly becoming a hotbed for the president’s various money-making schemes. World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto venture, announced earlier this month that a state-backed firm in the United Arab Emirates is going to invest $2 billion through the crypto company’s stablecoin.
Trump was asked about the transaction on Air Force One on Wednesday. “I don’t know anything about it,” the president said. “I really don’t know anything about it.”
