Latest news with #QatariGovernment
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump's Air Force One deal with Qatar not final, despite U.S. claims
Despite claims by the Defense Department to the contrary, legal teams representing the U.S. and Qatari governments have not finalized an agreement for transferring the luxury Boeing 747-8 jetliner that President Donald Trump wants for Air Force One amid outstanding requests by Qatar for Washington to clarify the transaction's terms, said officials familiar with the matter.
National Post
16-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Kelly McParland: Trump behaving like a self-serving monarch
For a guy who peddled glossy golden high-top sneakers and a line of superhero trading cards bearing his image during his run for the presidency, accepting a 'free' US$400 million flying palace from a foreign country eager for his favour is just another day at the office for Donald Trump. Article content Article content In Trump's case, the office is the White House, and the luxury jet he's been offered by the Qatari government is just more evidence of the high favour in which he's held around the world, according to official spokespeople. That the Trump family business is building a luxury golf and beachside residential development in Qatar in a deal including a company owned by the Qatari government is beside the point. As is the fact the president is accepting the gift from a foreign power while prosecuting a tariff war launched on the premise that Americans should do their business with fellow Americans — for the sake of the nation — rather than favouring unAmerican competitors. Article content Doesn't matter. In a country where each new day starts with another headline about the latest capers in the Oval Office, it's just another big ho-hum. Remember last week when he wanted to tariffize the movies, as if anyone could define precisely what made a film American when virtually every such venture involves input from around the globe? Or the sudden need to rescue white people from South Africa, where they make up just eight per cent of the population but own 75 per cent of the private land? Article content Article content What's notable about the Qatari commotion is not that it's worse than any other hundred-or-so Trumpian brouhahas, but how little these episodes disturb the placid surface of American indifference. As the president was welcoming the exceedingly generous freebie from an authoritarian monarchy where political parties are banned, his Republican disciples in Congress were releasing their plans to slash up to US$880 billion in spending, largely targeted at the Medicaid program that provides health coverage to low-income adults, children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities. Article content Article content The Congressional Budget Office calculates the plan would remove coverage for about eight million people who can't afford their own. New costs would be imposed on those earning above the federal poverty level, which starts at US$1,300 a month for individuals. Article content Article content The disparity between the president's good fortune and that of his flock, many of them no doubt firm Maga-ites, was noted, but caused no serious disturbance. And no wonder, it's not like anything's changed. Article content The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the richest 19 households in the U.S. gained an extra US$1 trillion in wealth last year. More, it said, than Switzerland's entire economy. The country's top 1 per cent now hold 31 per cent of its wealth, against 3 per cent for the bottom half of the population. From outside its borders, the U.S. may bear a worrying resemblance to the Bourbon nobility just before the French Revolution, but within its walls, America's aristocracy appears perfectly safe. The last time Americans stormed anything, it was in support of the very administration — all covered by generous, subsidized health benefits — that demands they start paying their own way for doctor visits.
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Qatar Offers Trump a $400 Million Luxury Jet
President Trump is in the Middle East on the first major international trip of his second term. At the same time, a firestorm has erupted over his plan to accept a $400 million luxury airplane from the Qatari government. Today, Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent, explains how the free plane may set a problematic precedent — and what Qatar might expect in return.
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Live updates: Trump to arrive in Middle East to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE
President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive Tuesday morning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first stop of a four-day trip that will include visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The trip, the first major overseas tour since Trump returned to the White House, is largely expected to focus on business deals and new investments from the oil-rich region. It comes as the president faces security concerns from current and former U.S. military, defense and Secret Service officials over a luxury jet the Qatari government is proposing to gift the United States for Trump's use. President Donald Trump on Monday praised Qatar for offering his administration a free luxury jet, but current and former U.S. military, defense and Secret Service officials said he will likely have to waive existing security specifications to be able to use the plane. President Donald Trump's four-day trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is expected to focus heavily on business deals and new investments from the oil-rich region.
Fast Company
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
Trump says Air Force One gift from Qatar wouldn't be an ethical breach
President Donald Trump is ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this coming week, and U.S. officials say it could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft. The Qatari government said a final decision hadn't been made. Still, Trump defended the idea—what would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government—as a fiscally smart move for the country. '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,' Trump posted on his social media site on Sunday night. 'Anybody can do that!' ABC News reported that Trump will use the aircraft as his presidential plane until shortly before he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership will be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library. The gift was expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar, according to ABC's report, as part of a trip that also includes stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the first extended foreign travel of his second term. Before Trump's post trumpeting the idea, Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar's media attaché, said 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 US Department of Defense.' 'But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,' the statement added. Meanwhile, administration officials, anticipating ethics concerns, have prepared an analysis arguing that accepting the plane would be legal, according to ABC. The Constitution's Emoluments Clause bars anyone holding government office from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any 'King, Prince, or foreign State,' without congressional consent. One expert on government ethics, Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, accused Trump of being 'committed to exploiting the federal government's power, not on behalf of policy goals, but for amassing personal wealth.' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer poked fun at Trump's 'America first' political slogan. 'Nothing says 'America First' like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,' the New York Democrat said in a statement. 'It's not just bribery, it's premium foreign influence with extra legroom.' Even some conservatives expressed dismay online, noting that an aircraft being offered by a foreign government could present security risks if used by a U.S. president. Air Force One is a modified Boeing 747. Two exist, and the president flies on both, which are more than 30 years old. Boeing Inc. has the contract to produce updated versions, but delivery has been delayed while the company has lost billions of dollars on the project. Trump intends to convert the Qatari aircraft into a plane he can fly on as president, with the Air Force planning to add secure communications and other classified elements to it. But it will still have more limited capabilities than the existing planes that were built to serve as Air Force One, as well as two other aircraft currently under construction, according to a former U.S. official. The official was briefed about the plane and spoke Sunday on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public. The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology. They also include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world. The official told The Associated Press that it would be possible to quickly add some countermeasures and communications systems to the Qatari plane, but that it would be less capable than the existing Air Force One aircraft or long-delayed replacements. Neither the Qatari plane nor the upcoming VC-25B aircraft will have the air-to-air refueling capabilities of the current VC-25A aircraft, which is the one the president currently flies on, the official said. Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called such a gift 'unprecedented.' 'The totality of gifts given to a president over their term doesn't get close to this level,' Libowitz said, adding, 'You have to ask, if he makes foreign policy—especially in regards to the Middle East—how much is he being influenced by his gifts and his business deals.' ABC said the new plane is similar to a 13-year-old Boeing aircraft Trump toured in February, while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport and he was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump faced lawsuits for violating the Emoluments Clause during his first term, but those were ended by the Supreme Court in 2021, which found the cases moot because the Republican had left office. Trump's family business, the Trump Organization, which is now largely run by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has vast and growing interests in the Middle East. That includes a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that country's sovereign wealth fund. Qatar, which is ruled by the Al Thani family, is home to the state-owned airline Qatar Airways. The country also has worked to have a close relationship to Trump after he apparently backed a boycott of Doha by four Arab nations in his first term. Trump later in his term applauded Qatar. Administration officials have brushed off concerns about the president's policy interests blurring with family's business profits. They note that Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that a voluntary ethics agreement released by the Trump Organization in January bars the company from striking deals directly with foreign governments. But that same agreement allows deals with private companies abroad. That is a departure from Trump's first term, when the organization released an ethics pact prohibiting both foreign government and foreign company deals. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked Friday if the president might meet with people who have ties to his family's business, said it was 'ridiculous' to suggest Trump 'is doing anything for his own benefit.'
