US President Donald Trump has defended the White House plan to possibly receive a luxury jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar to be used as America’s Air Force One presidential plane.
“They’re giving us a gift,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, adding that he would be “a stupid person” if he did not accept it.
In an earlier statement, a Qatari spokesman described the claim that the plane would be a gift as “inaccurate”. He said the transfer of an aircraft for “temporary use” was under discussion between the two countries.
The news comes as Trump is set to visit Qatar this week as part of the first major foreign trip of his second term.
Speaking on Monday, Trump said that the US had helped Qatar “a lot over the years in terms of security and safety” and that he had “a lot of respect for the leadership” of the country.
“They knew about it because they buy Boeings, they buy a lot of Boeings, and they knew about it, and they said, we would like to do something,” Trump said.
“And if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture. Now I could be a stupid person and say, oh no, we don’t want a free plane.”
Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché to the US, denied that such a plan had been made, and said that negotiations were ongoing between Qatar’s ministry of defence and its American counterpart.
“The matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made.”
The Qatari plane, reported to be worth about $400m (£303m), would not be ready for use right away as it will need to be retrofitted and cleared by security officials, sources told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
According to CBS News, the plane would be donated to Trump’s presidential library at the end of his term.
The potential value of the plane and its handling is likely to raise legal and ethical questions among critics.
Democrats were quick to accuse Trump of breaching ethics violations.
Senator Adam Schiff from California quoted a section of the US Constitution on social media that said no elected official could accept “any present… of any kind whatever” from the leader of a foreign state without congressional approval.
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer, a longtime Trump ally, also criticised the move. After writing on social media that she would “take a bullet” for Trump, she said: “This is really going to be such a stain on the [administration] if this is true.”
Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate, saying: “the aerial palace would constitute the most valuable gift ever conferred on a president by a foreign government”.
On Sunday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said “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”.
Defending the negotiations with Qatar, Trump referred to the plane as a gift and said it was offered for his use at no cost in a post to his Truth Social website on Sunday.
“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 wrote.
The White House’s current fleet includes two Boeing 747-200B planes customised for presidential use with special communications equipment and features like a stateroom, office and conference room, according to the US Air Force. The planes have been in use since 1990 and 1991.
Air Force One planes usually carry over to other administrations. According to the National Archives, only the Reagan presidential library has an Air Force One jet, and it flew seven presidents before being donated.
Qatar is said to be offering a version of a Boeing 747-8, a much newer model that ABC News reports has been upgraded into a “flying palace”.
Boeing had been contracted to provide the White House with newer planes, but Trump complained earlier this year that the company was behind schedule. His administration had initially negotiated with Boeing for two specialised 747-8 planes during his first administration.
The plane maker said the aircraft would not be available until 2027 or 2028.
“No, I’m not happy with Boeing. It takes them a long time to do, you know, Air Force One, we gave that contract out a long time ago,” Trump said in February.
“We may buy a plane or get a plane, or something.”
Trump had a positive diplomatic relationship with Qatar during his first term, which included an announcement in 2019 that the country would make a large purchase of American planes.
Qatar has also previously given private jets as gifts to other countries, such as a luxury plane given to Turkey in 2018.
