Maher slams Trump over Qatar jet, Middle East trip: ‘Bromance diplomacy'
Comedian Bill Maher slammed President Trump for accepting a luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari royal family and characterized the president's foreign trip to the Middle East, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as 'bromance diplomacy.'
'He was in the Middle East this week. A lot of stuff happened. He's in Saudi Arabia. Boy, they have a bromance going on over there. Well, they do, I mean… Bromance diplomacy, I call it, but, you know…Trump has a unique bond with the Saudis, they both reshaped the Manhattan skyline,' Maher said Friday during his monologue on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher.'
Maher later said that 'they love him over there. They, these camels, they had to put that up. They had Teslas, they had horses, they have dancing girls, they said they had a purple carpet. I guess it's like a platinum gold card, you know, it's purple, not even red.'
'And they also, listen to this, they set up a mobile McDonald's there. A little different over there than McDonald's. The Happy Meal toy is a little bone saw,' Maher quipped.
The White House unveiled business deals and financial investments during Trump's trip to the Persian Gulf states.
The administration touted a $600 billion deal with Saudi Arabia, although some of the projects in there were announced last year, before Trump assumed office.
Qatar Airways is set to buy 150 aircraft from Boeing. The president also inked a deal with the UAE that is worth north of $200 billion. UAE plans to build an aluminum factory in the United States.
'I will say I did that, and everyone will say, 'Meh.' But somebody's going to be cutting a ribbon and say — well, we're going to be finished long before that. But somebody's going to be taking the credit for this. You remember, press, this guy did it,' Trump told reporters on Friday.
Maher, who has criticized the administration's tariff agenda earlier this year, met with Trump during a March 31 dinner, later praising the commander-in-chief as 'gracious and measured.'
'You know, when you travel, you're like. You'd like to leave with a souvenir, right? So, he got a $400 million plane that they gave him. They gave him a $400 million plane, which he accepted,' Maher said on Friday.
'Now, this has to be the ultimate if Obama did it, I think, you know, because… If Obama did it, Fox News would be endlessly calling it Allah Force One. So, I think I will call it that, Allah Force One,' the comedian stated.
Trump has repeatedly defended accepting the Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family. The jet is worth around $400 million and is set to be first transferred to the Defense Department. The plane would replace the aging Air Force One that has been utilized for more than three decades.
'I just want to say, it was a radical left story. The people here, to show you how crazy it is, they would like me to pay a billion dollars,' Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier.
The plane will later be decommissioned to the president's presidential library. The gift from Qatar has prompted ethical and security concerns from lawmakers in Congress.
'This goes to the United States Air Force for whoever is president, and at some point, it'll be like Ronald Reagan. It'll be decommissioned, because they won't want it,' Trump told Baier this week.
Maher said it is 'moot anyway, because it's not going to be ready to be that if it was going to be Air Force One, so it would have to be private, which then it would be illegal.'
'But you know, it doesn't matter. Trump says he will not be using it when he leaves office, and people don't believe that. Not the using it part, the leaving office part,' the political pundit said.
'Uh, but… But, okay, so Trump now has four planes. He's got the two Air Force Ones that the government provides. Then he's got his own plane. Now he's got this one. Four planes, yet everybody else, still only three dolls and 10 pencils.'
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