A new report claims that President Donald Trump and his administration are planning to accept a Boeing 747-8 jet, estimated to be worth roughly $400 million, from Qatar’s royal family as a temporary replacement for Air Force One.
According to The Daily Caller, Boeing secured a $3.9 billion contract in 2018 to manufacture two new airplanes to replace the outdated Air Force One planes currently used by the president. The outlet noted that while the contract was initially expected to be completed by 2024, Boeing has delayed the project’s expected completion date until 2029.
Sources familiar with the proposal from Qatar’s royal family told ABC News that the Trump administration is preparing to accept the Boeing 747-8 “flying palace” to be used during his second term in the White House. The sources indicated that the ownership of the plane would be transferred to Trump’s presidential library foundation following the end of his term in office.
According to NBC News, the report that the Trump administration is preparing to accept the Boeing jet from Qatar’s royal family has already been met with criticism due to the unprecedented offer from a foreign government.
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ABC News cited sources that said a drafted analysis by lawyers for the Department of Justice and the White House counsel’s office for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth determined that it would be legal for the Defense Department to accept the Boeing jet for use by the Trump administration prior to it being turned over to the president’s library foundation. The sources indicated that the analysis draft claimed the potential gift would not violate bribery laws or the Constitution’s prohibition against U.S. government officials accepting gifts “from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
ABC News reported that sources also said Attorney General Pam Bondi and David Warrington, a White House lawyer, determined that the gift would be “legally permissible” to accept and to have transferred to Trump’s presidential library at the end of his term.
“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”
Appearing to address criticism of his administration’s consideration of the proposed gift, Trump issued a statement Sunday on Truth Social, saying, “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.”
