Trump defends plan to use Qatari luxury jet for Air Force One
US President Donald Trump has defended the White House plan to receive a luxury jumbo jet from 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, May 12, 2025, adding that he would be “a stupid person” if he did not accept it.
In an earlier statement, a Qatari spokesman said it would be “inaccurate” to refer to the plane as a gift. He said the transfer of an aircraft for “temporary use” was under discussion between the two countries.
Qatar
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 the other country “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.
He went on to say it would be a “very nice gesture” if Qatar provided the US with a Boeing jet while his government continued to wait for two new ones to be provided directly by Boeing itself.
The potential value of the plane and its handling has raised legal and ethical questions among critics on the political left and right.
The US Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which restricts what gifts US presidents can accept from foreign governments. It was designed to prevent leaders from becoming beholden to foreign governments.
Critics
On social media, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff from California quoted a section of the US Constitution that said no elected official could accept “any present… of any kind whatever” from the leader of a foreign state without congressional approval.
Congressman Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate, saying the plane could “constitute the most valuable gift ever conferred on a president by a foreign government”.
But there was criticism, too, from some of Trump’s staunchest supporters.
Daily Wire podcaster Ben Shapiro lambasted the plane deal on Monday as “skeezy”.
“Is this good for President Trump?” Shapiro said. “Is it good for his agenda? Is it good for draining the swamp and getting things done? The answer is no, it isn’t.”
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer also criticised the move. She posted to say she would “take a bullet” for the president, but that any decision to accept the jet would be “such a stain” on the administration.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on 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”.
The White House’s current fleet includes two Boeing 747-200B planes customised for presidential use with special communications equipment and features like a state room, office and conference room. The planes have been in use since 1990 and 1991.
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”.
The plane, reported to be worth about $400m (£303m), would not be ready for use right away if provided to the US, as it would need to be retrofitted and cleared by security officials, sources told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
Boeing has already been contracted to directly provide the White House with two 747-8s directly, but Trump complained earlier this year that the firm was behind schedule.
His team negotiated to receive these during his first term in office, though Boeing has cautioned that they will not be available for two or three more years.
