Trump dismisses criticism of receiving the luxury plan from Qatar
Sources for several US media have stated that the US government will receive an aircraft, a Boeing 747-8, from Qatar. Trump now comments on the information, in a post on his platform Truth Social.
« So the fact that the Ministry of Defense receives a gift, free in the form of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, the corrupt Democrats worry so much that they insist that we pay the highest price for the plane, » he writes.
Following the details of the gift Among other things, Trump has been criticized for making it a bribe.
« It’s not just a bribe, it is a foreign influence at the highest level with extra legroom, » writes the Democrats’ minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, at X.
A new plan of the same type costs the equivalent of SEK 3.9 billion. The current plane shall be 13 years old, according to information to ABC Newsbut can still be the single most expensive gift that an American government received.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt writes in a statement that all gifts for the administration are accepted in accordance with applicable laws.
Trump has previously expressed frustration over delays in deliveries of two new 747-8 planes, which will be used as a presidential plan. According to a first agreement, the plan would have been delivered in 2024, but will not come until 2027.
A spokesperson for the organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics tells Reuters that the gift can violate the Constitution’s ban on US officials receiving gifts from foreign governments without the approval of Congress.
Trump will visit Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this week. A spokesperson for Qatar says to The New York Times That no definitive decision has been made about the gift.
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