BBC News
US President Donald Trump defended the White House plan to receive a Luxury Qatar juna to be used as the American Air Force One plane.
“They offer us a gift,” Trump told journalists in the White House on Monday, adding that he would be “a stupid person” if he did not accept it.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for Qatari said it would be “inaccurate” to designate the plane as a gift. He said that the transfer of an aircraft for “temporary use” was under discussion between the two countries.
The news comes while Trump is expected to visit Qatar this week as part of the first major foreign trip to his second term.
Speaking on Monday, Trump said that the United States had helped the other country “a lot over the years in terms of security and security” and that he had “a lot of respect for management” of the country.
He continued by saying that it would be a “very beautiful gesture” if Qatar provided the United States with a Boeing jet while his government continued to wait until two new ones were supplied directly by Boeing himself.
The potential value of the plane and its manipulation have raised legal and ethical issues among critics, including democratic legislators.
The American Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments clause, which restricts the gifts that the American presidents can accept foreign governments. It was designed to prevent leaders from becoming liable to foreign governments.
On social networks, Senator Adam Schiff of California cited a section of the American Constitution which declared that no elected official could accept “any present … of any kind” of the head of a foreign state without approval of the congress.
The member of the Congress Ritchie Torres called on the government’s office of responsibility to investigate, saying that the plane could “constitute the most precious gift ever conferred on a president by a foreign government”.
Far -right influencer Laura Loomer, a longtime ally of Trump, also criticized this decision. She posted to say that she “would take a bullet” for the president, but that any decision to accept the jet would be “such a task” on the administration.
The white house press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday that “any donation offered by a foreign government is still accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. The administration of President Trump is engaged in full transparency”.
The current White House fleet includes two personalized Boeing 747-200B planes for presidential use with special communication equipment and features such as a state room, office and a conference room. Aircraft has been used since 1990 and 1991.
Qatar would offer a version of a Boeing 747-8, a much more recent model than ABC News Reports has been upgraded in a “flying palace”.
The plane, estimated at around 400 million dollars (303 million pounds sterling), would not be ready to be used immediately if it was provided in the United States, as it should be modernized and erased by security officials, Sources said in CBS, the American partner of the BBC.
Boeing has already been contracted to provide the White House directly with two 747-8, but Trump complained earlier this year that the company was late.
His team negotiated to receive them during his first mandate, although Boeing warned that they will not be available for two or three more years.
Qatar – A country with which Trump has long had a positive relationship – has also given private jets as gifts to other countries, including Turkey.
And it would not be the first agreement linked to Trump with Qatar. Last month, his company signed an agreement to build a luxury golf station there, marking its first foreign agreement since the Republican returned in office in January.
According to CBS, the plane that Trump could acquire would be given at the end of his mandate to his presidential library, which is a collection of artifacts linked to the time of an American leader.
Air Force One Planes generally takes place towards other administrations. According to the national archives, only the presidential library of Ronald Reagan has an Air Force One plane.
Trump, a businessman who has become president, has not been foreign to accusations of conflict of interest since his entry into office in 2017. During his first mandate, criticism accused him of being enriched in several ways, notably by his hotel in Washington DC. A trial followed, but has never been concluded.
Commenting on the potential transfer of the plane, David Super, professor of law at the University of Georgetown, told the BBC: “This certainly stinks, but it is officially a transfer to the [US] government, not the office holder. “”
However, the jet could be considered an illegal personal gift to Trump if he is able to use it in his privacy after leaving his duties, added Professor Super.
As for who could protest against such a decision – the congress could adopt a resolution denouncing it, said Professor Super, but that would be unlikely given the republican domination over Capitol Hill, and that would not stop real transfer.
“It looks like a violation, but there are a number of provisions in our Constitution which are known to be essentially inapplicable,” added the professor.
