A new condemnatory report has thrown cold water to the repeated statements of President Donald Trump that Qatar officials have offered his jumbo jumbo of $ 400 million as a «gift» to replace Air Force One airplanes.
Trump has boasted on his social page of the truth that the private Boeing 747 is a «gift, free of charge», and it would be a temporary replacement for Air Force One. Later, he would be donated to his presidential library.
The leaders on both sides of the hall have criticized the president for the alleged gift, urging him to distrust a «bribe.»
But CNN now informs that the Trump administration had contacted Qatar officials first about the plane they had been trying to sell since at least 2020.
The Network states that Boeing had informed the Trump administration shortly after taking office in January that the company could not deliver spare parts for aged presidential planes until 2027.
At that time, the White House Military Office, which supervises the presidential trips, worked with Boeing and the Department of Defense to compile a list of all late 747 models in the market with a business jet design, which could easily adapt to a presidential plane.
However, only eight planes in the world are adjusted to the bill, including the striking Jet Qatari of Double Decker, according to the New York Times.
He raised a lot of attractiveness for President Trump, with his brochure with «soft fabrics of the highest quality» in the bedroom along with «luxurious leather and exquisite wooden veneers» and a «luxurious design bath» which is «almost a work of art.»
President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that Qatar officials have offered his jumbo jet of $ 400 million as a «gift» to replace Air Force One aircraft.
Qatar officials had been trying to sell the two -story luxury jet since 2020
At that time, Trump ordered the envoy of the Middle East Steve Witkoff to begin negotiations with Qatar officials with whom he was intimately familiar after the sovereign background of wealth of the country rescued him from a real estate agreement failed in New York City in 2023.
In mid-February, the Times reports, Qatar agreed to send the plane to Florida while Trump was at his Mar-A-Lago resort to be able to see him first hand.
Apparently it was taken with the JET that has a main bedroom, a guest bedroom, two full bathrooms with showers, nine smaller bathrooms, five small kitchens and a private office.
It also comes with large sofas and recliners, wooden panels and more than 40 televisions, including 10 large screen televisions.
But with all the characteristics, the aerospace engineer Marc Foulkrod said there would be a limited number of possible buyers.
The main airlines would not be interested in buying the plane because it was not configured for commercial use, he explained.
The plane also has four engines and is expensive to maintain and operate.
Obtaining pieces over time will also become more difficult since the model is no longer manufactured.
But, Foulkrod said: «You can find that unique guy who has a super ego who wants to buy one and ride it.»
According to the reports, Trump ordered the Envoy of the Middle East Steve Witkoff to begin negotiations with Qatari officials
According to the reports, Qatari officials believed they were selling the plane
The main airlines would not be interested in buying the plane because it was not configured for commercial use and it is expensive to maintain
Now it seems that Qatar officials discovered that ‘Guy’ with Trump, whom the Times reports, marveled at what he had seen, since he was forced to fly back to Washington DC in one of the existing Air Force One 747.
From there, negotiations with Qatar officials increased.
However, the initial discussions focused on the possibility of leasing the plane instead of buying it.
Now it is not clear when the conversations went from buying the luxury jet to accept a government to government.
A senior White House official said that Qatar first raised the option of offering the plane as a possible gift, or at least that Qatar officials were «pleasant» to the idea of a government to government transfer without charge when it arose.
A second official said that Witkoff had always believed that the transaction would be a donation, while a third said that Qatar officials offered the idea of a donation.
Finally, White House officials said they concluded that a donation would be simpler and faster than a sale.
Trump has attacked his detractors who urged him to distrust a «bribe»
But Qatari officials believed they were selling the plane, and an official told the Times that a decision on the transfer of the plane to the United States has not yet been made and that the Ministry of Legal Defense of Qatar and the United States Department of Defense are still reviewing the legal terms.
«This is a very simple government to government treatment when the Ministry of Defense and the Department of Defense is still exchanging the possibility of transferring one of our 747-8 to be used as Air Force One and is still under a legal review,» Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Al-Thani told CNN.
«At the end of the day, if there is something that the United States (needs) and is completely legal and we can, we can help and support the US., Then we are not avoiding.»
He added that «of course, the offer would be withdrawn if the transaction was considered illegal.»
Meanwhile, the White House has doubled in his statement that he is obtaining the new free plane from Qatar.
On Monday, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told journalists that the plane is a «donation to our country,» and added that the government and the royal family «have offered to donate this plane to the United States Air Force, where the donation will be accepted according to all legal and ethical obligations.»
But the news of the plane endowed sent politicians concerned about their legal and ethical consequences.
«The Constitution in article II talks about how the president cannot take emoluments or gifts of foreign leaders,» Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky, said, said in Fox News.
‘We are not talking about a trip on the plane; We are talking about the full $ 400 million plane. I think it is not worth the appearance of improperity.
The two -story plane has a main bedroom, a guest bedroom, two full bathrooms with showers, nine smaller bathrooms, five small kitchens and a private office
It also comes with large sofas and recliners, wood panels and more than 40 televisions, including 10 large screen televisions
The Constitution establishes that no president must accept «no present, emolument, position or title of any kind,» without «the consent of the Congress.»
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Republican from Mo., also told reporters: «It would be better if Air Force One was a large and beautiful plane made in the United States of America.»
Trump’s native state senator, Florida’s Republican, Rick Scott, was more forceful in his evaluation.
«I’m not flying on a Qatar plane,» Scott said. ‘They support Hamas. I don’t know how you do it safe.
But since then Trump has attacked his detractors, since he expressed concern that his 2018 order for Boeing to have continuously delayed the fleet aged by Boeing.
«Then, the fact that the Department of Defense receives a free gift, from a 747 plane to replace the 40 -year -old Air Force, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so it bothers the twisted democrats who insist that we pay, the best dollar, the plane,» the president published online.
Anyone can do that! Democrats are world -class losers! Trump mocked.
(Tagstotranslate) Dailymail
