Latest news with #QatarDonation
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Schumer is vowing to hold up Justice Department nominees for answers about luxury plane from Qatar
WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he will hold up all Department of Justice nominations on the Senate floor until he gets more answers about the free Air Force One replacement that President Donald Trump says would be donated by Qatar. Trump said this week that he wants to accept the $400 million plane, and that it would later be donated to a presidential library. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that the details of the donation are still being worked out.
CNA
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
White House defends Qatari Air Force One 'donation'
WASHINGTON: The White House insisted Monday (May 12) it would act with "utmost transparency" after Qatar offered President Donald Trump a new Air Force One, rejecting suggestions that the oil-rich Gulf state would expect preferential treatment in return. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the Qatari royal family would donate a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet described as a "flying palace", as Trump prepares to fly out on a Middle East tour that includes Qatar. "The Qatari government has graciously offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense. The legal details of that are still being worked out," Leavitt told Fox News. "But of course, any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law, and we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency, and we will continue to do that." Both the monetary size of the gift and the proposed use of a foreign-built plane as the ultra-sensitive Air Force One would be unprecedented and raise numerous ethical and security questions. Asked if there were concerns that Qatar would want something in return, Leavitt replied: "Absolutely not, because they know President Trump and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind." The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State," in a section known as the emoluments clause. But there could be possible loopholes for the jet, including if it is given to the Pentagon, or if Trump later donates it to his planned presidential library after he leaves office. Trump himself on Sunday defended the plans - without confirming it was from Qatar - despite strict rules on presents for US presidents. "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," he said on Truth Social. The US president has long been unhappy with the Air Force One jets - two highly customised Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under President George HW Bush. Boeing following delays in delivering two new 747-8 aircraft.
CBS News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Qatar to donate a jumbo jet for Trump's exclusive use as a presidential plane, sources say
Washington — The royal family of Qatar is donating a jumbo jet for President Trump's exclusive use as a presidential plane, sources told CBS News. ABC News first reported the gift, which comes as Mr. Trump heads to Qatar as part of his first international trip of his second term. But the plane, a 747-8, won't be ready to serve as Air Force One quite yet, and Mr. Trump won't be using it to fly back to the U.S. from the Middle East. The plane needs to be checked for security and spying devices before it is accepted, one of the sources told CBS News. The plane will be donated to the future Trump presidential library shortly before he leaves office. Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar's Media Attaché to the U.S., confirmed to CBS News that the possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is under consideration between Qatar's Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made. But Al-Ansar said reports that the plane will be gifted during this trip are "inaccurate." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Sunday that "any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump's Administration is committed to full transparency." Qatar has also offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense, but the gift will not be donated or accepted during this trip to Qatar, a U.S. official said. The president is departing Monday on his first major foreign trip of his second term, set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the four-day visit. Leavitt said Friday that the trip will focus on "strengthening ties between our nations," citing Mr. Trump's first trip in 2017 to the Middle East, where he "introduced his bold peace-through-strength foreign policy strategy." "Now, eight years later, President Trump will return to re-emphasize his continued vision for a proud, prosperous and successful Middle East, where the United States and Middle Eastern nations are in cooperative relationships, and where extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges," Leavitt said. Qatar's Media Attaché to the U.S., Ali Al-Ansari, disputed reports, saying in a statement that the "possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar's Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense," while noting that "the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made." contributed to this report.
Irish Times
11-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Donald Trump to accept Qatar's gift of a new Air Force One on Middle East tour
The Trump administration plans to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 aircraft as a donation from the Qatari royal family that will be upgraded to serve as Air Force One, in possibly the biggest foreign gift received by the US government, a senior official with direct knowledge of the matter said. The aircraft will then be donated to President Donald Trump 's presidential library when he leaves office, the official said, allowing him to continue using it as a private citizen. The plan raises substantial ethical issues, given the immense value of the lavishly appointed aircraft and the fact that Trump plans to use it after he leaves office. Sold new, a commercial Boeing 747-8 costs in the range of $400 million (€355 million). Trump's own private aircraft, known as 'Trump Force One,' is an older 757 jet that first flew in the early 1990s and was then used by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Trump bought it in 2011. The Qatari jet, if Trump continued flying it after leaving office, would give him a substantially newer aircraft for his own use. READ MORE The plan – reported earlier by ABC News – is expected to be announced in the coming days, as Trump makes the first extended foreign trip of his presidency to three nations in the Middle East, including Qatar. It will fulfil the president's desire for a new Air Force One, after repeated delays involving a government contract to Boeing for two new jets to serve that purpose. Trump toured the Qatari-owned 747, which is just more than a decade old, while it was parked at the Palm Beach International Airport in February. The New York Times reported then that the jet was being considered as a possible new Air Force One. The aircraft being donated by Qatar is expected to be retrofitted by a military contractor called L3Harris, in Texas, and that work can begin once the government approves how the aircraft is being acquired, the official said. It is expected to be finished being equipped with military capabilities by the end of the year, the official said, allowing Trump to use it while in office. [ Israel will not be involved in Gaza aid plan, says US envoy Opens in new window ] A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. A US defence department official said on Sunday that the air force had not yet reached any agreement on a contract to refurbish the Qatari 747 to make the security upgrades and modifications necessary for an Air Force One, and the air force could not legally do so until it took ownership of the aircraft. Assuming that were to happen, the official said, it would still take an extended period of time to complete the contract and, more important, to carry out the upgrades and modifications. 'We're talking years, not months,' the defence department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details about a future Air Force One. The model that the government is using for addressing some of the ethical issues raised by the donation, the official said, is the one followed by President Ronald Reagan's presidential library when it received the Air Force One he had flown on after it was retired from use. But at the time, Reagan did not use the aircraft to fly around himself. It was set up in the museum portion of his library. Another person with knowledge of the effort to acquire the aircraft said the Qataris had initially offered to donate it immediately to the Trump library, and then have Trump use it while in office. But government lawyers said that would be a violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution, the person said. The current plan has been signed off on by government lawyers who concluded it did not violate the emoluments clause of the US constitution and that the defence department could accept the gift, the official said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times .
