The prime minister of Qatar thinks gifting the U.S. president a lavish jet is nothing more than a regular government-to-government interaction.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and top diplomat, downplayed his government’s $400 million gift to President Donald Trump in a Wednesday interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
“I see that this story is taking a different direction and being more politicized while it’s a normal government-to-government deal,” he said. “It’s basically part of a cooperation that we’ve been doing a lot together between Qatar and the United States, so I don’t see a point out of this.”
Under the deal, the Qatari Defense Ministry will hand over a Boeing 747-8 to the Pentagon that will be used as a presidential jet. The swanky aircraft, dubbed a “flying palace,” houses at least three lounges, two bedrooms, nine bathrooms, five galleys, and a private office.
The gift has sparked a firestorm in the U.S., with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raising alarm over security and ethics concerns.
Al Thani sought to allay those fears by stressing that the deal is still under discussion and legal review.
“First of all, we bought this airplane from an American company,” he said. “We’ve been always there for the U.S. We’ve been a reliable ally for the U.S.”
Al Thani also shut down “really unfair accusations” that the generous gift was Qatar’s way of buying influence in the Trump administration.
“We are proud of this partnership and this relationship. I don’t see any basis for this accusation, unless there are some people who are just trying to select who should be a friend of the U.S. and who should not,” he said.
Trump has similarly brushed off concerns over his decision to accept the gift from Qatar.
“When you land and you see Saudi Arabia, and you see UAE, and you see Qatar, and you see all this, and they have these brand new Boeing 747s mostly, and you see ours next to it, this is like a totally different plane,” Trump said of Air Force One.
“Some people say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t accept gifts for the country.’ My attitude is, why wouldn’t I accept the gift? We’re giving to everybody else,” he added.
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