Trump’s Qatari Air Force One plan raises eyebrows

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Donald Trump has said that the US would be a “fool” not to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar to be put to use as the new Air Force One.

So what? Even many of his allies disagree. Trump has flown around the Middle East this week in a whirl of billion dollar deals and head-spinning diplomacy. But he hasn’t been able to shake questions about his presidential transport. Accepting a plane from a foreign government would be a remarkable moment in the 70-year history of Air Force One, which is

• a global symbol of US power and pride;
• a second home for presidents who can clock up half a million miles in a term; and
• an airborne command centre equipped to evade missiles and survive a nuclear blast.

Sky’s the limit. Trump is a plane fanatic who said the first time he stepped on Air Force One was a “big moment” in his life. In 2018, Boeing was given a $3.9 billion contract to build two aircraft to modernise the ageing fleet. The president said the new Air Force One, decked in the colours of the US flag, would be part of his “legacy”.

Boeing wrong. Trump has a scale model of this design in the Oval Office, but the real planes have not materialised. The fleet was meant to be delivered by 2024, but has been delayed until 2029 in part by the need for Boeing employees to have high-level security clearances.

Plane, please. On 1 May, the WSJ reported that Trump had commissioned a US defence company to retrofit a Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari government to be ready by autumn. Qatar was circumspect, saying on Sunday that the “possible transfer” of the plane for “temporary use” was “under consideration”. But the plan appears to have been in the works for months.

20 January. Trump cuts a cake topped with a model of Boeing’s next Air Force One at his inaugural ball.

15 February. Trump tours the Qatari plane when it is in Palm Beach International Airport, five miles from Mar-a-Lago. A few days later, he tells the press the US “may go and buy a plane or get a plane or something”.

3 April. The Qatari jet, under the temporary registration P4-HBJ, is flown from Maine to San Antonio, where the company reportedly contracted to upgrade the aircraft is based.

Leftovers. Previously used by the Qatari royals and registered with the initials of a former prime minister, the aircraft was put on sale in 2020. Known as the “palace in the sky”, it has nine bathrooms, five kitchens, three bedrooms, a private office and a golden staircase.

The glow up. Experts think it will cost at least a billion dollars to make it into a mobile White House with a situation room, medical facility, radar jammers and protection from electromagnetic pulses. Unlike the current Air Force One, a conventional 747-8 cannot refuel in mid-flight, which is crucial in case of a nuclear attack.

The Constitution. The emoluments clause prohibits the president from receiving a gift from a foreign state without approval from Congress. The Qatari plane is worth a hundred times more than the $3.7 million of gifts collectively given to all presidents since 2001.

View from the White House. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said any donation to the government is done “in full compliance of the law”.

View from the lawyers. The US attorney general reportedly concluded it would be “legally permissible” for the plane to be transferred to the Pentagon and then Trump’s presidential library after his term ends. Other legal experts have demurred.

View from Potus. Trump said he won’t use the plane when he leaves office. In an interview with Sean Hannity this week, the president asked why he wouldn’t accept “a gift” when the US is “giving to everyone else”. He invoked the golf legend Sam Snead to a different reporter, saying: “When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole.”

View from Congress. Democrats have roundly condemned Trump’s plan. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said it was “premium foreign influence with extra legroom” and told lawmakers he was putting a hold on Justice Department nominees. Most Republicans have equivocated when asked about the plane.

View from Maga. More full-throated opposition has come from Trump supporters outside the beltway. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and longtime ally of the president, said she had to “call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400m ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits.” Trump himself accused Qatar in 2017 of historically being a “funder of terrorism at a very high level”.

No worries. Batting away questions about the plane, Trump visited the country on Wednesday and signed an agreement for more than $240 billion of investments between the Gulf emirate and the US. This included a deal for Qatar Airways to buy 210 Boeing jets.

What’s more… The plane Trump wants would need to be stripped and swept for bugs before it is reconfigured to use as Air Force One. He may be out of office by the time it’s ready.