The Qatari prime minister defended his country’s offer of a $400 million 747 jet as a gift to the Trump Administration, calling it a “normal thing” for allies and done “in full transparency and very legally”.
President Donald Trump wants to accept the gift to the U.S. as a temporary replacement for the ageing Air Force One plane, which is due for an upgrade.
But the gift has sparked bipartisan criticism over ethical and national security concerns. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate minority leader, called it “naked corruption”.
“I see it as a normal thing that happens between allies,”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday.
Al Thani said he did not understand why critics viewed the gift as a form of bribery or corruption toward the Trump Administration.
“I don’t see any honestly valid reason for that,” he said, adding that nothing has been done “under the table” or as a “covert operation”.
He noted that a lot of nations have gifted things to the U.S. and that this is subject to a “proper legal review” in what is a “clear exchange”.
“I am not comparing that to the Statue of Liberty,” Al Thani said.
The Qatari prime minister said he thought the reaction to the jet gift may be down to the fact that it is coming from a small Arab nation.
“I’m hoping that people in the United States and even the politicians over there, they look at us as a friend, as a partner, as a reliable partner [and] that we’ve been always there for the U.S. whenever we were needed,” Al Thani said.
“Whether it’s in the war against terror, whether it’s in freeing American hostages from all around the world.
“It’s not something that we’ve been doing to buy an influence. But this is a duty on us as a partner, as an ally of the United States, and as there is a duty for the United States towards others.”
This is a breaking news story and more information will be added soon.
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