Latest news with #CenterforStrategicandInternationalStudies'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US accepts gifted Qatari plane to join Air Force One fleet
The US has accepted a plane intended for the Air Force One fleet from Qatar, a gift that has sparked criticism including from some of President Trump's biggest supporters. "The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday. The plane will need to be modified before it can be used as part of Air Force One - the president's official mode of air transport. The White House insists that the gift is legal, but the announcement of the transfer a week ago caused huge controversy. The plane is a gift from the Qatari royal family and is estimated to be worth $400m (£300m). The White House says that the new plane will be transferred to Trump's presidential library at the end of his term. It could require years to fit with additional security systems and upgrades required to carry the president - including the ability to withstand the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast, and to refuel mid-flight. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Defense and Security Department, says the costs of such retrofitting could easily run to $1bn (£750m). Justifying the transfer a week ago Trump said: "They're giving us a gift". The president has also said it would be "stupid" to turn down the plane. The US Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits gifts to public officials from foreign governments without permission of Congress. The transfer has not received congressional approval. The president has argued that the plane transfer is legal because it is being given to the US defence department, and not to him personally. He also insisted he would not use it after leaving office. The current Air Force One fleet includes two 747-200 jets which have been in use since 1990, along with several smaller 757s. Trump has expressed his displeasure at the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which has been contracted to provide the White House with two 747-8s directly. His team negotiated to receive them during his first term in office, though there have been repeated delays and Boeing has cautioned that they will not be available for two or three more years. Trump surreptitiously visited the Qatari plane in Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago resort, just a few weeks after the start of his second term in office. The president insists there is no quid-pro-quo involved and that the plane is a simple exchange between two allies. On Truth Social he wrote: "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." Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has said the transfer "is a government-to-government transaction. "It has nothing to do with personal relationships - neither on the US side, nor the Qatari side. It's between the two defence ministries," he said. But those assertions have done little to calm the criticism of the deal, including from a number of Trump's allies in Congress and the right-wing media. "I think it's not worth the appearance of impropriety, whether it's improper or not," Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, told Fox News. "I wonder if our ability to judge [Qatar's] human rights record will be clouded by the fact of this large gift," Paul said. Another Republican senator, Ted Cruz of Texas, said accepting the gift would pose "significant espionage and surveillance problems". New era beckons for Air Force One after Qatari offer - but what's it like inside? Is Trump allowed to accept $400m luxury plane as a gift? Trump's critics and supporters unite against Qatar plane deal
NDTV
15-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Explained: Why Qatari Jet Gifted To Trump May Need Fighter Escorts
A Boeing 747 jet offered to President Donald Trump by Qatar as a temporary flying White House might need fighter jet escorts and could be restricted to flying inside the US unless significantly costly security upgrades were made, aviation experts and industry sources said. Even if numerous improvements to the plane's communications and defenses are made over the coming months once any deal is completed, the military escort and domestic restriction could remain in place, the experts and sources said. As the commander-in-chief, however, Trump could waive any requirements like these, a former Air Force official noted. Retrofitting the luxury plane offered by Qatar's royal family would require security upgrades, communications improvements to prevent spies from listening in and the ability to fend off incoming missiles, experts said. The costs were not known, but could be significant given Boeing's current effort to build two new Air Force One planes exceeds $5 billion. The Air Force referred a request for comment to the White House, which did not have an immediate comment. There are serious questions about whether any combination of fighter escorts and short-term upgrades would be enough to provide sufficient protection for the president. "I don't think it's possible," said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Defense and Security Department, referring to short timeline for the deep modifications. "Air Force One is designed to be survivable in all kinds of environments, including a nuclear war," he added, noting the jet's ability to tolerate the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast is embedded in the jet's wiring and systems from the bottom up. "That's not something you add on." Trump has dismissed criticism of his widely-reported plan to accept the 13-year-old airplane with a $400 million list price, saying it would be "stupid" to turn down the offer. Trump also called it a practical decision, and that he was disappointed Boeing had taken so long to deliver on already delayed contracts for the two new Air Force One planes that he renegotiated during his first term. "If he wants it, and he says 'I'll accept any risk associated with not having all the stuff the real Air Force One has,' he can do that," the former Air Force official said. While Air Force One does not normally fly with fighter escorts, the new plane may need them to defend against missile threats, the former official added. An escort could be necessary because the Qatari plane "wouldn't have the electronic warfare and missile warning systems and whatever else you associate with survivability on Air Force One," said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. He added international travel may be off-limits because "you can't guarantee the level of security in international airspace or airports." Air Force One almost never requires fighter escorts because it is equipped with a range of advanced defensive systems including flares, electronic jammers and infrared detection systems that protect against missile strikes. Escorts sometimes fly with the jet when it is overseas, or in moments of national security risk such as after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The government has tapped L3Harris Technologies to overhaul the 747 as it waits for delivery of the two delayed new Air Force One aircraft from Boeing. Other upgrades could include a communications suite that can handle sensitive White House and aircraft crew functions, and changing the interior so it can support Trump, his staff, the Secret Service and the press, said Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Under any scenario, the US military would need to install new security features and potentially new wiring before the plane was used to transport Trump, experts say. DELAYS First mooted a decade ago, the Air Force One program has faced chronic delays, with the delivery of two new 747-8s slated for 2027, three years behind the previous schedule. Boeing in 2018 received a $3.9 billion contract to build the two planes for use as Air Force One and costs have since risen to at least $4.7 billion. Boeing has also posted $2.4 billion of charges from the project. Those jets were themselves originally intended for a foreign airline, Russian carrier Transaero, which went bankrupt in 2015. Using existing airframes was meant to reduce costs but Boeing has since taken billions of dollars in charges because the costs to retrofit the plane have far exceeded the contract price. In February, Trump toured a Boeing 747-8 built for Qatar to highlight the delays. The White House said at the time that the visit allowed him to "check out the new hardware/technology," without elaborating. The aircraft was originally operated by state-owned VIP airline Qatar Amiri flight, which performs private flights for members of the country's ruling family and other government officials, according to specialist databases. It was reported sold in 2023 to Global Jet Isle of Man, a private charter firm that has declined to comment on the jet. There are also questions over the $400 million value widely placed on the jet, based on new prices for the aircraft, which halted production in 2023. Analysts Cirium said a second-hand 747-8 might fetch a quarter of that, while a trader in VIP jets said the bespoke interior would be worth much more than the plane itself.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump puts energy on front lines of ‘resource war'
President Donald Trump's wish list for acquiring new U.S. territories and making deals includes areas with a major feature in common: access to critical minerals. In recent weeks, the president has suggested a minerals-for-aid "deal" with Ukraine, drawing pushback from Russia. He's repeatedly suggested the U.S. will acquire Greenland, a mineral-rich Danish territory, possibly by force. And he has said Canada could become the 51st state — which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said should be taken seriously, noting Trump was interested in Canadian minerals. "It's almost like a resource-based foreign policy that we're already starting to see … China has been doing it for decades,' said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Critical Minerals Security Program. 'We see minerals featuring as a much clearer part of our strategy abroad.' Trump is the latest president to take on an old challenge: China controls processing of critical minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel, as well as rare earth elements needed to make military and energy equipment. The U.S. has moved to chip away at China's dominance over supply chains but has trailed efforts like China's Belt and Road Initiative, which has built out infrastructure in developing countries to access minerals. At the same time, U.S. companies have warned that China's unfair market practices, including flooding the market with cheap products, have made it difficult if not impossible to compete. And Trump's 'America First' push isn't occurring in isolation. It's complicated by the complex and often fraught positions of his billionaire tech adviser Elon Musk, who has myriad ties to China through his position as CEO of Tesla. Tesla, for example, has in recent months fought efforts to impose higher tariffs on Chinese graphite, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. Thibault Denamiel, a fellow in the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Economics Program, said many of Trump's moves seem to be part of a 'negotiating tactic' and that there's a clear interest among his administration to put energy at the forefront of foreign policy. But Denamiel also cautioned against reading too much into Trump's every word. The majority of the Trump White House, he noted, isn't speaking about the president's call for Canada to become the '51st state' as a serious policy proposal. As for Ukraine, Denamiel said much of the rare earths present there are in territories already controlled by Russia — so an "aid-for-minerals" deal idea is playing the long game rather than counting on immediate benefits to the U.S.'s ability to obtain resources. Trump reiterated his position in an interview with Fox News on Monday, arguing that the U.S. should get a slice of Ukraine's mineral wealth — worth $500 billion — as compensation for billions spent helping the country fight off Russia's invasion. 'The more important takeaway here is that the Trump White House expects Ukraine aid to be more transactional,' said Denamiel. "Protecting Ukrainian national security is no longer an end in itself; access to its resources is.' The president's latest flurry of activity is a response to China's long-standing strategy of shoring up resources to deprive the West of materials needed to make military and defense equipment, said John Lenczowski, founder, president emeritus and chancellor of the Institute of World Politics, an independent graduate school of national security. 'I think that that's very much his style, and it shakes things up a lot,' he said. 'It reinforces his unpredictability, which I think is a great strategic asset to the United States.' Lenczowski said Trump should be credited for paying attention to a critical part of the ongoing 'resource war' — critical minerals — and that he sees 'incredible parallels' between today's conflict and the Cold War. 'This is part of a global strategy, which includes economic warfare, and a dimension of economic warfare is resource warfare, and it is intimately linked to [China's] military buildup and their Belt and Road strategy and their attempts to secure a corner on the markets … on things like cobalt and lithium and the rare earths,' said Lenczowski. While Trump has vowed to increase domestic mining with a slew of executive orders, his bombastic approach to foreign policy has also riled longtime U.S. allies, even those flush with minerals. The most recent fight emerged after Trump threatened to halt aid to South Africa. South African officials rebuked Trump and Musk and responded by urging other countries on the Africa continent to cut off exports to the U.S. of cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements if the Trump administration follows through on his vow to withhold aid. Trump's strategy is also threatening to create fractures on Capitol Hill, where members of the bipartisan House China Select Committee have been working for more than two years to craft a legislative package to counter China's dominance. Democrats on the committee like Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have expressed concern with Trump's alliance with Musk, who has financial ties to Beijing. Even so, Chair John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) at an event in Washington on Tuesday downplayed fears of partisan divisions and said his committee alongside the White House is well positioned to take on China. Moolenaar told attendees at the event hosted by the Institute of World Politics that he was planning to have dinner with senators Tuesday who are interested in policies to counter China. 'I've actually never met Elon Musk,' said Moolenaar. 'I will say, in the White House, you got Senator [and Secretary of State Marco] Rubio, who is fantastic on these issues. [CIA Director John Ratcliffe], very good. [National security adviser Mike Waltz] … I have a lot of confidence in the president's team in these areas, who very well understand the threat [from] China.'
Politico
13-02-2025
- Business
- Politico
Trump puts energy on front lines of ‘resource war'
President Donald Trump's wish list for acquiring new U.S. territories and making deals includes areas with a major feature in common: access to critical minerals. In recent weeks, the president has suggested a minerals-for-aid 'deal' with Ukraine, drawing pushback from Russia. He's repeatedly suggested the U.S. will acquire Greenland, a mineral-rich Danish territory, possibly by force. And he has said Canada could become the 51st state — which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said should be taken seriously, noting Trump was interested in Canadian minerals. 'It's almost like a resource-based foreign policy that we're already starting to see … China has been doing it for decades,' said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Critical Minerals Security Program. 'We see minerals featuring as a much clearer part of our strategy abroad.' Trump is the latest president to take on an old challenge: China controls processing of critical minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel, as well as rare earth elements needed to make military and energy equipment. The U.S. has moved to chip away at China's dominance over supply chains but has trailed efforts like China's Belt and Road Initiative, which has built out infrastructure in developing countries to access minerals. At the same time, U.S. companies have warned that China's unfair market practices, including flooding the market with cheap products, have made it difficult if not impossible to compete. And Trump's 'America First' push isn't occurring in isolation. It's complicated by the complex and often fraught positions of his billionaire tech adviser Elon Musk, who has myriad ties to China through his position as CEO of Tesla. Tesla, for example, has in recent months fought efforts to impose higher tariffs on Chinese graphite, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. Thibault Denamiel, a fellow in the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Economics Program, said many of Trump's moves seem to be part of a 'negotiating tactic' and that there's a clear interest among his administration to put energy at the forefront of foreign policy. But Denamiel also cautioned against reading too much into Trump's every word. The majority of the Trump White House, he noted, isn't speaking about the president's call for Canada to become the '51st state' as a serious policy proposal. As for Ukraine, Denamiel said much of the rare earths present there are in territories already controlled by Russia — so an 'aid-for-minerals' deal idea is playing the long game rather than counting on immediate benefits to the U.S.'s ability to obtain resources. Trump reiterated his position in an interview with Fox News on Monday, arguing that the U.S. should get a slice of Ukraine's mineral wealth — worth $500 billion — as compensation for billions spent helping the country fight off Russia's invasion. 'The more important takeaway here is that the Trump White House expects Ukraine aid to be more transactional,' said Denamiel. 'Protecting Ukrainian national security is no longer an end in itself; access to its resources is.' The president's latest flurry of activity is a response to China's long-standing strategy of shoring up resources to deprive the West of materials needed to make military and defense equipment, said John Lenczowski, founder, president emeritus and chancellor of the Institute of World Politics, an independent graduate school of national security. 'I think that that's very much his style, and it shakes things up a lot,' he said. 'It reinforces his unpredictability, which I think is a great strategic asset to the United States.' Lenczowski said Trump should be credited for paying attention to a critical part of the ongoing 'resource war' — critical minerals — and that he sees 'incredible parallels' between today's conflict and the Cold War. 'This is part of a global strategy, which includes economic warfare, and a dimension of economic warfare is resource warfare, and it is intimately linked to [China's] military buildup and their Belt and Road strategy and their attempts to secure a corner on the markets … on things like cobalt and lithium and the rare earths,' said Lenczowski. While Trump has vowed to increase domestic mining with a slew of executive orders, his bombastic approach to foreign policy has also riled longtime U.S. allies, even those flush with minerals. The most recent fight emerged after Trump threatened to halt aid to South Africa. South African officials rebuked Trump and Musk and responded by urging other countries on the Africa continent to cut off exports to the U.S. of cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements if the Trump administration follows through on his vow to withhold aid. Trump's strategy is also threatening to create fractures on Capitol Hill, where members of the bipartisan House China Select Committee have been working for more than two years to craft a legislative package to counter China's dominance. Democrats on the committee like Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have expressed concern with Trump's alliance with Musk, who has financial ties to Beijing. Even so, Chair John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) at an event in Washington on Tuesday downplayed fears of partisan divisions and said his committee alongside the White House is well positioned to take on China. Moolenaar told attendees at the event hosted by the Institute of World Politics that he was planning to have dinner with senators Tuesday who are interested in policies to counter China. 'I've actually never met Elon Musk,' said Moolenaar. 'I will say, in the White House, you got Senator [and Secretary of State Marco] Rubio, who is fantastic on these issues. [CIA Director John Ratcliffe], very good. [National security adviser Mike Waltz] … I have a lot of confidence in the president's team in these areas, who very well understand the threat [from] China.'
