The Trump administration accepted the Boeing 747 jet gift from Qatar.
“The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed to reporters. “The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States. For additional information, we refer you to the United States Air Force.”
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the gift, with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) saying the gift presents “significant espionage and surveillance problems.”
Representative Jared Golden (D-ME) similarly said the jet “poses the risk of foreign surveillance and influence at the highest level of our government, to say nothing of the propriety of accepting it.”
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said of the gift, “Qatar is not, in my opinion, a great ally. I mean, they support Hamas. So what I’m worried about is the safety of the president.”
Other lawmakers, such as Senator Mark Wayne Mullin (R-OK), defended the gift, telling reporters, “Have you ever been to New York and saw the Statue of Liberty? That was a gift too.” He added, “So you know anything about safety & security & our intel? So do you think we’re gonna take a plane & not strip it & put all the Air Force One stuff in it?”
“Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social this month. “This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Boeing was awarded a $3.9 billion contract in 2018 to develop two jets to serve as Air Force Ones, although the project has been delayed.
