White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the legal details on accepting a Boeing 747-8 jet to replace Air Force One as a gift from the Qatari royal family are “still being worked out.”
“Any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law,” she added.
CNN reported Sunday that the Trump administration was set to accept a plane from the Qatari royal family that will be retrofitted and used as Air Force One during the president’s second term, according to two people familiar with the agreement.
When pressed if she believed this “gift” would require something in return, Leavitt responded: “Absolutely not, because they know President Trump, and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind.”
President Donald Trump said Sunday night that the Defense Department plans to accept the luxury jet as a “GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE,” on social media. He said the multimillion dollar jet would be used on a temporary basis “in a very public and transparent transaction.”
Given the massive value of a Boeing 747-8, the move is unprecedented and raises substantial ethical and legal questions. A Qatari official said the plane is technically being gifted from the Qatari Ministry of Defense to the Pentagon, describing it more as a government-to-government transaction instead of a personal one. The Defense Department will then retrofit the plane for the president’s use with security features and modifications.
“The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,” Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché to the US, said Sunday.
Within the Secret Service, the potential gifting of a plane by a foreign government for presidential use is being viewed as a “security nightmare,” a law enforcement source told CNN.
“The (US Air Force) would have to tear it apart looking for surveillance equipment and inspect the integrity of the plane,” the source said.
Monday morning, Trump defended the plan to accept the jet, describing it as a “contribution” and saying he would be a “stupid person” if he turned down a free jet.
Trump added that the plane will “go directly” to his presidential library after he leaves office.
“I wouldn’t be using it,” he said.
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