After Trump Accepts $400M ‘Flying Palace’ Jet From Qatar To Use As Air Force One, Ethics Critics From Both Parties Call It ‘Bribery’

Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry

Alessio AtriaMay 12, 2025, 10:20 pmNews >

President Donald Trump’s administration is ready to accept a $400 million “flying palace” Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family, which Trump will use as Air Force One.

The president will use the aircraft, which is reported to be the most luxurious private jet in the world, as a temporary presidential jet. At the same time, Boeing finishes the next-generation Air Force One fleet after years of delays and cost overruns. The jet would then be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation when Trump leaves office.

In 2022, Trump’s plan to paint Air Force One red, white and blue was scrapped due to its $1.1 billion cost.

Trump, who earned the lowest approval rating of any president in the past eight decades at 100 days in office, could receive delivery of the plane soon.

On Sunday night, Trump confirmed in a Truth Social post that he would accept the plane.

“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” he wrote in the post. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”

In February, Trump toured the plane at West Palm Beach International Airport.

Recently, the Trump administration tapped defense contractor L3Harris to tune up the Boeing 747, which Qatar’s royal family previously used.

During Trump’s first term, the Trump administration awarded Boeing a $3.9 billion contract in 2018 to create two new presidential planes for use as Air Force One. According to an estimate from Boeing in 2024, that project will not be completed until 2029.

The U.S. currently has two old Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets for use as Air Force One. Some military officials hoped to include a third jet in the fleet as a backup for maintenance purposes. That project has since been hit with many delays and cost overruns.

Qatar denied information in reports that the plane would be a Trump gift.

“Reports that a jet is being gifted by Qatar to the United States government during the upcoming visit of President Trump are inaccurate,” Ali Al-Ansari, a Qatar diplomat, told the New York Post.

“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 US Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made.”

The news reports also provoked outrage from Democrats like Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-New York), who conveyed “alarm” in a complaint to the acting inspector general and connected government agencies.

“Just as troubling as the gift itself is the identity of the benefactor,” Torres said in a letter. “Qatar is not a neutral party on the world stage. It has a deeply troubling history of financing a barbaric terrorist organization that has blood on its hands. In the cruelest irony, Air Force One will have something in common with Hamas: paid for by Qatar.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) also slammed the Trump administration.

“Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,” Schumer stated in an X post. “It’s not just bribery, it’s a premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”

The gift may well violate the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause. The Constitution stipulates that “no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi and top White House lawyer David Warrington examined the situation and determined the plan is “legally permissible.”

They concluded that getting the plane is allowed since it is not being given to the president, conditioned on a formal act.

“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”

Still, even Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley expressed concern about the gift’s legality.

On April 30, the president unveiled the newly renovated Oval Office. The space includes an expanded display of gold-framed portraits of former American presidents and many flags.