logo
White House insists Trump has nothing to do with $400m Qatar plane deal — despite it going to his library

White House insists Trump has nothing to do with $400m Qatar plane deal — despite it going to his library

Independent19-05-2025

The White House is continuing to deny that the proposed gift of a $400 million bespoke jumbo jet for President Donald Trump 's use as a luxury transport while construction proceeds on two long-delayed aircraft to be used as Air Force One has anything to do with the man who would benefit most from the transaction.
During a morning press briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned on whether the tricked-out aircraft currently owned by a member of Qatar 's ruling al-Thani family could be checked for listening devices or other security concerns and retrofitted to presidential standards.
Leavitt quickly repeated a previously used statement about the plane being accepted 'according to all legal and ethical obligations' and said it would be 'retrofitted to the highest of standards' by the Pentagon and the Air Force. But she then pivoted to a complaint about what she described as 'misinformation' about the proposed donation, which according to Trump would see the plane delivered to the Department of Defense for use during his term and then transferred to his presidential library's foundation around the time he leaves office in early 2029.
She claimed that the aircraft was 'not a personal donation or gift' to Trump and said any journalist who suggested otherwise should correct their reporting.
'This is a donation to our country and to the United States Air Force,' she said, adding later that she'd refer further questions on retrofitting the aircraft to the Air Force because Trump 'has nothing to do with it.'
Leavitt's insistence that the president isn't a party to the proposed transaction tracks with the opinion of Trump's Department of Justice, which had moved swiftly to rule that accepting the gift would break no laws despite the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibiting the president from accepting from accepting 'any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.'
Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House lawyer David Warrington said the donation of the aircraft would be 'legally permissible' given that its ownership would be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation before the end of his term.
Trump has long fixated on the details of what has become a long-delayed, budget-busting project to replace two iconic Boeing 747 aircraft used for presidential transport since the George H.W. Bush administration to the point of picking out a dark blue and red paint scheme for the replacement planes, which are slated to be a pair of 747-8 airliners that were built for but never delivered to a bankrupt Russian airline.
But that project, which began around the time Trump's first term started in 2017, has been dogged by supply chain problems, security delays and the bankruptcy of a key Boeing subcontractor, all on top of the difficulty of stripping a commercial aircraft down to studs and rebuilding it as a hardened VIP transport capable of functioning as a White House in the sky during all manner of crises while protecting itself from many forms of attacks using highly classified defensive capabilities.
The Qatari plane is reportedly so luxurious inside that it has been described as a 'flying palace.' It has two full bathrooms, nine lavatories, a master bedroom and a guest bedroom, multiple lounges, and a private office.
Retrofitting it to be used as Air Force One would likely require years of work to add secure communications, electromagnetic shielding, and possibly in-flight refueling capabilities. making it unlikely that it would be available for use before Trump's term ends.
Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity aboard Air Force One during his trip to the Middle East last week, Trump appeared not to understand why the gesture had provoked such outrage.
'Why wouldn't I accept a gift?' he asked, pointing out to Hannity how 'much smaller' and 'much less impressive' the present presidential plane is compared to the newer model.
'The plane that you are on right now is almost 40 years old,' he griped.
'When you land and you see Saudi Arabia, and you see [the UAE], and you see Qatar, and you see all these – they have these brand new Boeing 747s mostly.
'And you see ours next to it. This is like a totally different plane. It's much smaller, it's much less impressive... We're the United States of America – I believe we should have the most impressive plane.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US-China trade talks: ‘framework' deal amid dispute over rare earths
US-China trade talks: ‘framework' deal amid dispute over rare earths

The Guardian

time37 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

US-China trade talks: ‘framework' deal amid dispute over rare earths

Officials from the US and China have agreed on a 'framework' to move forward on trade after two days of talks in London stemming from their confrontation over tariffs. The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, expressed optimism on Tuesday that concerns about critical or 'rare earth' minerals and magnets 'will be resolved' as the deal is implemented. Lutnick told reporters that the framework puts 'meat on the bones' of a deal reached last month in Geneva to ease retaliatory tariffs. Its implementation had faltered over China's curbs on critical mineral exports. The deal also would remove some US export restrictions that were recently put in place, Lutnick said. 'We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents,' Lutnick said. 'The idea is we're going to go back and speak to President Trump and make sure he approves it. They're going to go back and speak to President Xi and make sure he approves it, and if that is approved, we will then implement the framework.' In a separate briefing, China's vice commerce minister Li Chenggang said a trade framework had been reached that would be taken back to US and Chinese leaders. 'The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting,' Li told reporters. Lutnick said China's restrictions on exports of critical minerals and magnets to the US would be resolved as a 'fundamental' part of the framework agreement. 'Also, there were a number of measures the United States of America put on when those rare earths were not coming,' Lutnick said. 'You should expect those to come off, sort of as President Trump said, in a balanced way.' Li said: 'Our communication has been very professional, rational, in-depth and candid.' All eyes were on the outcomes of negotiations as both sides were at an impasse over export restrictions, with US officials earlier accusing Beijing of slow-walking approvals for shipments of critical minerals. The world's two biggest economies were also seeking a longer-lasting truce in their escalating tariffs war, with levies reduced temporarily. 'We're moving as quickly as we can,' US trade representative Jamieson Greer told reporters. 'We feel positive about engaging with the Chinese.' With Reuters and Agence France-Presse

Syria's post-war economic recovery will require 'substantial' international support, IMF says
Syria's post-war economic recovery will require 'substantial' international support, IMF says

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

Syria's post-war economic recovery will require 'substantial' international support, IMF says

Syria will need 'substantial international" support for its efforts to rehabilitate the economy, meet urgent humanitarian needs, and rebuild essential institutions and infrastructure, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. Syria cannot afford hundreds of billions of dollars of damages and losses from the conflict that first started as protests in 2011 against former President Bashar Assad 's totalitarian government. Since current President Ahmad al-Sharaa led an insurgency that ousted the Assad dynasty in December 2024, countries have gradually restored ties with Syria. During a five-day visit by the IMF in early June — the first to Syria by the 191-country lending organization since 2009 — its team met with officials from the public and private sectors, notably the finance minister and central bank governor. 'Syria faces enormous challenges following years of conflict that caused immense human suffering and reduced its economy to a fraction of its former size,' the IMF said. 'While the years of conflict and displacement have weakened administrative capacity, staff at the finance ministry and central bank demonstrated strong commitment and solid understanding.' Some 6 million people fled Syria during the conflict, and the United Nations estimates that 90% of those who stayed lived in poverty and relied on humanitarian aid to survive. Half a million people were killed in the conflict. Damascus now anticipates investments and business projects with Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others, as they reestablish flight paths and hold high-level political and economic meetings. U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington will lift decadeslong sanctions against Syria, but it is unclear how long that process could take. Britain and the European Union had eased some restrictions. Meanwhile, oil-rich nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid off Syria's debt to the World Bank, valued at near $15 billion. The IMF said it is developing a roadmap for Syria's policy and capacity building priorities for key economic institutions, including the finance ministry, central bank, and statistics agency. But Syria has a laundry list of reforms it must undertake, including improving its tax collection system, making sure its national budget can pay public sector salaries and basic healthcare and education, empowering the central bank to take measures to bring back confidence to the local currency, and rehabilitate its outdated and battered banking system in line with international standards. In 2017, the United Nations estimated that rebuilding Syria would cost about $250 billion. Since Assad was overthrown, some experts say that number could be as high as $400 billion.

Industry associations highlight cybersecurity risks at US regulatory agencies
Industry associations highlight cybersecurity risks at US regulatory agencies

Finextra

timean hour ago

  • Finextra

Industry associations highlight cybersecurity risks at US regulatory agencies

Four industry trade associations have called for significant reforms to how federal financial regulators handle sensitive data following a data breach at the Office of the Comproller of the Currency that exposed over 148,000 private correspondences containing sensitive supervisory information about US financial institutions. 0 In a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, The Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, MFA and Sifma say that growing threats from hostile nation-states targeting US critical infrastructure serve as a reminder of the urgency to address vulnerabilities. 'Government agencies are increasingly the target of persistent and sophisticated nation-state attacks that could disrupt financial markets and our economy,' the organizations wrote. 'It is imperative that federal regulators recognize that they are equally a target of malicious actors and implement the same or substantially similar cybersecurity and incident response practices that they expect financial institutions to maintain.' Financial institutions are legally required to share sensitive, proprietary and non-public information with their regulators as part of the supervisory process. This information can range from capital and liquidity management to cybersecurity protocols. However, centralizing large amounts of data can create a prime target for illicit actors seeking to harm US economic security, says the organisations. They point out that over the past two years, both the Treasury Department and the OCC have suffered significant cyber incidents. At the OCC, hackers were at work inside its systems for over a year-and-a-half before the intrusion were discovered. Immediately after the breach was reported both JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon scaled back electronic information sharing with the agency. To mitigate risk and prevent similar problems in the future, the groups are urging the Treasury to hold federal agencies to the same security and data protection standards as private companies. They want to limit data collection to only what is necessary and avoid centralisation of sensitive data, allowing companies to maintain control and access to their data. The letter states: 'As firms are required to share non-public, highly sensitive information with regulators as part of the supervisory process, compromises at regulatory agencies could expose institutions' vulnerabilities and business information to malicious actors, putting them at strategic disadvantage.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store