Editors at National Review Online question a recent Trump administration decision.
When ABC reported that the Trump administration was ready to accept a $400 million luxury 747 jet as a gift from Qatar that would be used as the new Air Force One, many of President Trump’s fiercest social media defenders rushed to declare it fake news. But then Trump himself took to social media to defend the move.
The president wrote on Truth Social: “So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”
Trump has been growing frustrated that Boeing is years behind schedule in manufacturing a new Air Force One, and under the delayed timeline, it won’t be available during his presidency. While Boeing’s manufacturing issues have been well documented and are worthy of criticism, it in no way justifies the brazen decision to take such a lavish gift from a foreign government.
For one thing, the plane is a potential security threat, given all of the possible places to hide listening devices within a jumbo jet. Assuming that issue could be dealt with through an extensive security sweep, there are the ethical concerns.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the president is prohibited from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without congressional approval. The administration is trying to get around this by arguing that the gift is to the Department of Defense, and that after he leaves office the plan is for it to be decommissioned and transferred to Trump’s presidential library. The fact that its ownership will not remain with the U.S. government would seem to cut against Trump’s argument that it isn’t a gift, but even if his lawyers have found a loophole to make it technically legal, it doesn’t mean it is ethical.
