Trump may receive Qatari luxury jet
Emoluments Clause bars gifts from foreign states
By: Sudiksha Kochi
Joey Garrison
and Bart Jansen
USA Today
WASHINGTON - On the eve of a trip to the Middle East, President Donald Trump was in talks to receive a Boeing 747 from the government of Qatar to use as the next presidential aircraft, sparking questions about foreign influence on his administration.
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"I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer," Trump told reporters May 12 [2025] at the White House. "I could be a stupid person and say 'No, we don't want a free very expensive airplane.' But i thought it was a great gesture."
..... ABC News was first to report the planned gift on May 11. [2025]
..... Trump has been eager since his first term to replace the two jumbo aircraft that serve under the moniker Air Force One when he is abroad. while waiting for Boeing to build a new version, Trump said Qatar has offered one of its planes as a gift that would be turned over to the president's foundation when he leaves office. he compared it to the 707 at the late President Ronald Reagan's presidential library.
..... "It would go directly to the library after I leave office," Trump said.
..... Ali Al Ansari, Qatar's media attache to the United States, issued a statement saying reports about Qatar presenting the gift to Trump during his trip to the Middle east are "inaccurate."
..... "The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar's Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made, Al-Ansari said.
..... Democrats and other criticized the potential gift. The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution bars any U.S. official from accepting "any present" of "any kind whatsoever, form any King, Prince or foreign stat4e."
..... Representative Ritchie Torres, D-New York, asked the government Acountability Office, the Defense Department's inspector general and the Office of Government Ethics on May 11 [2025] to investigate.
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"With an estimated value of $400 million, the aerial place would constitute the most valuable gift ever conferenced on a President by a foreign government," Torres wrote. "the America people are witnessing, in real time, what can only be described as a 'flying grift."
..... Ari Fleishcher, former White House press secretary for Republican President George W. Bush, also discouraged accepting the gift. "Nothing about getting Air Force One from a foreign government feels right,' he wrote May 12 [2025] on social media. "It shouldn't pass through foreign hands and it shouldn't be a gift form a King, don't do it."
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Trump fired back at Democrats on social media, saying the plane could be a "GIFT FREE OF CHARGE" rather than paying "TOP DOLLAR" for the plane. "The Dems are world Class Losers!!!!" he wrote May 11. [2025]
..... The president will be visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab emirates. all three stops are places where his family have major business interests. The potential gift of a jet once more shines a spotlight on the fact that Trump and several of his confidants have forged multi-billion-dollar business deals and engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomacy in the Gulf.
..... Among them: Son Eric Trump, an executive at the Trump Organization, launched a new Trump-branded residential tower in Dubai in April, 2[205] expanding the family business's footprint in the Gulf. Also in April, [2025] real estate developer Dar Global and Quatair Diar signed a deal to develop Trump International Golf Club and villas as part of a resort project outside Doham the Qatari capital.
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Dar Global previously signed a deal with the Trump Organization in 2022 to sue the Trump brand for its 44 billion project in the Gulf state of Oman that includes a golf course, hotel and villas.
..... In September 2024, Trump hosted Qatar's ruling emir and the UAE president separately at his Mar-a-Lago residence and private club.
..... The Trump Organization has announced plans to build a Trump tower in the Saudi capital Ryadh, the second such project in the country after a previously announced tower in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
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A Saudi-U.S. investment forum will take place in Riyadh on the sidelines of Trump's trip, with Elon Musk invited, according to a planning note seen by Reuters."
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The visit is expected to be a lavish affair accompanied by blockbuster economic announcements. Invited guests also include the CEOs of Blackrock, Citigroup, IBM, Boeing, Delta Airlines American Earlies and United Airlines, among others, according to the note.
..... In January, [2025] Trump asked Saudi Arabia to spend upward of $1 trillion in the U.S. economy over four years, including military purchases. Reuters reported in April [2025] that the United States was poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion.
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Israel, which is not on the itinerary, put a brave face on Trump's decision to bypass a stop there. But the omission is the latest to sow doubt in Israel about where it stands in Washington's priorities.
..... For one, the agreement to release U.S.-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander May 12 [2025] happen after talks between Washington and Hamas that did not include Israel. And Reuters reported that the United States is no longer demanding that Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks.
..... "The message to the region was clear: Israel is no longer a top U.S. priority," wrote Itamar Eichner, diplomatic correspondent for Israeli news outlets Ynet, echoing media commentators across the politician spectrum.
..... However, U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee reconnect from Israel. He said the relationship remained "ironclad."
..... "The president has been consistent in his support and his partnership and I have no reason to believe that won't continue," he said
..... Contributing: Reuters