President Donald Trump defended his acceptance of a Qatari jet, insisting it wasn’t improper to accept such a massive gift from a foreign government.
“They’re giving us a free jet. I could say, ‘No, no, no, don’t give us — I want to pay you a billion or 400 million,’ or whatever it is. Or I could say, ‘Thank you very much,’” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
The Trump administration is preparing to accept a Boeing 747-8 luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, ABC reported Sunday. Sources told ABC that the jet would be used as a new Air Force One during his presidency, after which it would be transferred to the presidential library. The report raised questions about the massive gift and what the nation might expect in return.
The gift has been criticized, particularly by Democrats.
Trending
“Air Force One is more than just a plane — it’s a symbol of the presidency and of the United States itself,” Democratic Sens. Brian Schatz, Chris Coons, Chris Murphy and Cory Booker said in a joint statement Monday. “Any president who accepts this kind of gift, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government. No one — not even the president — is above the law.”
The senators — all of whom are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — said they would push for a vote this week “to reiterate a basic principle: no one should use public service for personal gain through foreign gifts.”
But Trump also faced some pushback from allies. Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer called the gift “a stain” on the administration if they accepted the jet “from jihadists in suits,” in a post on X.
Trump told reporters the jet was a gift to the Department of Defense, before criticizing the reporter asking about it and saying they “should know better, because you’ve been embarrassed enough, and so has your network.”
Trump compared the gift acceptance to a quote from famed golfer Sam Snead. “He had a motto, ‘When they give you a putt, you say, thank you very much. You pick up your ball and you walk to the next hole.’ A lot of people are stupid. They say, ‘No, no, I insist on putting it. Then they putt it and they miss it, and their partner gets angry at ’em. You know what? Remember that. Sam Snead.”
Trump posted to Truth Social Sunday acknowledging the deal and blowback: “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. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA,” he wrote.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The legal details of that are still being worked out,” but “any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law, and we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency, and we will continue to do that.”
Leavitt was also asked by Fox if the administration had concerns the Qatari government could want something in return.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “Because they know President Trump, and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind.”
—
Nuha Dolby is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Author
