Schumer questions Qatar gift, threatens to block Trump nominees
By: Richard Cowan
Reuters
WASHINGTON - Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on May 13 [2025] vowed to block all of President Donald Trump;s nominees to the Justice Department until the agency reports what it knows about Qatar's offer to give Trump's administration $400 million airplane.
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Trump said May 12 [2025] that it would be "stupid" for him to refuse Qatar's offer of the Boeing 747-8 airplane, which would be use as Air Force One, the jet American presidents sue to fly around the globe.
..... The aircraft eventually would be donated to Trump's presidential library.
..... Schumer, D-New York, referring to reports that Attorney General Pan Bondi had signed off on the deal for the plane, called it "a blatantly inept decision."
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"The attorney general must testify before both the House and Senate to explain why gifting Donald Trump a private just does not violate the emoluments clause (of the U.S. constitution), which requires congressional approval," he said in a speech to the Senate.
..... The Defense Department is already in the process of procuring a replacement for the current, aging Air Force One, with delivery by Boeing expected within a couple years.
..... Schumer said he wants answers to whether the Qatari government will pay for modifications of the aircraft needed to protect the president, secure miscommunications and provide special configurations for what is in practice an airborne Oval Office workspace.
..... If the U.S. government would have to bear those costs, Schumer said, "why are American taxpayers being asked to spend hundreds of millions of dollars or more on a plane that will only be sued for year or two?"
..... Outside ethics experts have listed a range of Trump activities that would point to the president using his office to enrich himself or his family.
..... Currently, three Trump Justice Department nominees are before the Senate: an assistant attorney general for Maryland and two in Virginia.