One of Donald Trump‘s former spokespeople tore into him for accepting a $400 million plane from Qatar.
“You’re taking Qatari blood money,” Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as White House director of strategic communications in 2020, told CNN.
Trump had said he’d be “stupid” not to accept the luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family, but the president’s willingness to accept the gift has raised alarm across the political spectrum over what Qatar may expect in return.
Lavish enough to have been dubbed a “flying palace,” sources have told ABC the Boeing 747-8 is expected to be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation in the months ahead of his departure from office.
Griffin reminded viewers in the Saturday interview of the stringent rules for White House officials concerning gifts, which prohibit staff from accepting anything worth more than $20, let alone $400 million, in their capacity as government employees.
“We were also told, ‘Don’t even take a pen from a foreign diplomat, a head of state, because it likely has surveillance technology on it,’” she said, warning it would likely cost White House security many millions of dollars simply to ensure the jet and its furnishings do not contain any concealed espionage devices.
Griffin isn’t alone in having expressed horror at the debacle. Former Vice President Mike Pence warned: “We’ve got to remember who Qatar is” given the Gulf state’s historic support for Al-Qaeda.
Echoing Pence’s concerns, Griffin pointed out on Saturday that Qatar has also helped “shield” Hamas‘ finances prior to and during the War in Gaza.
“Way to step on your own message, Donald Trump,” she added.
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