President Donald Trump reportedly is ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this coming week, and US officials say it could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft.
The Qatari government acknowledged discussions between the two countries about “the possible transfer” of a plane to be used temporarily as Mr Trump’s Air Force One, but denied that the jet “is being gifted” or that a final had been decision made.
ABC News reported that Mr Trump will use the aircraft as his presidential plane until shortly before he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership will be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library.
The gift was expected to be announced when Mr Trump visits Qatar, according to ABC’s report, as part of a trip that also includes stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the first extended foreign travel of his second term.
But hours after the news, Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché, in a statement said, “Reports that a jet is being gifted by Qatar to the United States government during the upcoming visit of President Trump are inaccurate.”
“The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defence,” the statement said. “But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made.”
Meanwhile, administration officials, anticipating questions about the President accepting such a large gift from a foreign government, have prepared an analysis arguing that doing so would be legal, according to ABC.
The Constitution’s Emoluments Clause bars anyone holding government office from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any “King, Prince, or foreign State,” without congressional consent.
One expert on government ethics, Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, accused Mr. Trump of being “committed to exploiting the federal government’s power, not on behalf of policy goals, but for amassing personal wealth.”
“This is outrageous,” Ms Clark said, “Trump believes he will get away with this.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer poked fun at Mr Trump’s “America first” political slogan.
“Nothing says America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “It’s not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
Air Force One is a modified Boeing 747. Two exist, and the President flies on both, which are more than 30 years old. Boeing Inc. has the contract to produce updated versions, but delivery has been delayed while the company has lost billions of dollars on the project.
Delivery has been pushed to some time in 2027 for the first plane and in 2028 — Mr. Trump’s final full year in office — for the second.
Mr. Trump intends to convert the Qatari aircraft into a plane he can fly on as President, with the Air Force planning to add secure communications and other classified elements to it. But it will still have more limited capabilities than the existing planes that were built to serve as Air Force One, as well as two other aircraft currently under construction, according to a former US official.
The official was briefed about the plane and spoke Sunday on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.
The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology. They also include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world.
The official told The Associated Press that it would be possible to quickly add some countermeasures and communications systems to the Qatari plane, but that it would be less capable than the existing Air Force One aircraft or long-delayed replacements.
Neither the Qatari plane nor the upcoming VC-25B aircraft will have the air-to-air refuelling capabilities of the current VC-25A aircraft, which is the one the President currently flies on, the official said.
ABC said the new plane is similar to a 13-year-old Boeing aircraft Mr. Trump toured in February, while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport and he was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Mr. Trump faced lawsuits for violating the Emoluments Clause during his first term, but those were ended by the Supreme Court in 2021, which found the cases moot because the Republican had left office.
Ms. Clark said the reported Qatari gift is the “logical, inevitable, unfortunate consequence of Congress and the Supreme Court refusing to enforce” the Emoluments Clause.
Mr. Trump’s family business, the Trump Organisation, which is now largely run by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has vast and growing interests in the Middle East. That includes a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Qatar, which is ruled by the Al Thani family, is home to the state-owned airline Qatar Airways. The country has also worked to have a close relationship with Mr Trump after he apparently backed a boycott of Doha by four Arab nations in his first term. Mr Trump, later in his term, applauded Qatar.
Administration officials have brushed off concerns about the president’s policy interests blurring with the family’s business profits. They note that Mr Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and that a voluntary ethics agreement released by the Trump Organisation in January bars the company from striking deals directly with foreign governments.
But that same agreement allows deals with private companies abroad. That is a departure from Mr Trump’s first term, when the organisation released an ethics pact prohibiting both foreign government and foreign company deals.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked Friday if the President, during his upcoming trip, might meet with people ties to his family’s business, said it was “ridiculous” to suggest Mr Trump “is doing anything for his own benefit.”
