Qatar’s royal family’s offer to donate the $400 million 747-8 to be used as the US presidential plane raised major questions about ethics and security, but Trump played them down.
It could possibly be one of the most expensive gifts, if not the most expensive, ever given to the U.S. by a foreign government.
“It’s a great gesture,” the 78-year-old billionaire told reporters at the White House when asked if the oil-rich Gulf state would expect anything in exchange.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person (and) say ‘no we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.'”
Qatar’s offer came after Trump repeatedly complained of delays and cost overruns in aerospace giant Boeing’s contract to provide two new Air Force One jets to replace the current aging models.
Trump responded particularly angrily when asked if he would use the jet in a personal capacity after he left the presidency.
“You should be embarrassed asking that question,” Trump told a reporter. “They’re giving us a free jet. I could say, no, no, no, don’t give us, I want to pay you $1 billion or $400 million, or whatever it is. Or I could say, thank you very much.”
Trump said that instead, it would be donated to his future presidential library as an exhibit, in the same way that Ronald Reagan’s library holds a former Air Force One jet.
Nuclear-Grade Graft
Qatar swiftly sought to downplay the uproar, saying the jet would not be a gift.
“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,” said Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attache to Washington.
However, the plan has raised major ethical questions, as the US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State.”
It has also raised deep security concerns about using a plane donated by a foreign power as the ultra-sensitive Air Force One. The jet is designed to serve as a mobile command center for the president in case of an attack on America.
Democrats slammed the plan.
“Any president who accepts this kind of gift, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government creates a clear conflict of interest,” said a statement by four members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The statement by Senators Cory Booker, Brian Schatz, Chris Coons and Chris Murphy said it also “raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government.”
Murphy said separately that he would also block any arms sale to a “nation that is doing direct personal business with Trump,” describing Qatar’s proposed gift as “nuclear-grade graft.”
Utmost Transparency
Trump and the White House, however, claim the Qatari jet would be a gift to the US Department of Defense, which would also get around constitutional concerns.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Qatar had “graciously offered” to donate a plane to the Pentagon, but the “legal details of that are still being worked out.”
“Any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law, and we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency, and we will continue to do that,” she told Fox News.
Trump has long been unhappy with the current Air Force One jets—two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under President George H.W. Bush.
Earlier this year Trump said his administration was “looking at alternatives” to Boeing following delays in the delivery of two new 747-8 aircraft.
Trump also has a model of the future Air Force One in his handpicked red, white, and blue colors on the coffee table in the Oval Office, where he sits with foreign leaders.
A Name, Not A Plane
Technically Air Force One is the callsign for whichever US Air Force plane, no matter how small, is carrying the US president.
But most people identify it with the two heavily modified versions of the Boeing 747-200 jet liner that usually shuttle the US president worldwide.
The two current models, called the VC-25A in military speak, both entered service in 1990 during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.
With its classic blue and white livery the current jumbo jet has become so famous that it even spawned a Hollywood thriller named after it, starring Harrison Ford.
Sometimes presidents use smaller planes based on Boeing 757s for shorter flights, dubbed “Baby Air Force One.”
Presidential Suite
“Big Air Force One” boasts luxury features fit for a commander-in-chief.
The president himself has a large suite that includes an office with leather chairs and a polished wooden desk — a space Trump used for a press conference to sign a proclamation renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
A medical suite on board can also function as an operating room, should the worst happen.
There are special cabins for senior advisors, Secret Service members and 13 traveling press. It has two galleys that can feed 100 people at a time, all on specially branded crockery.
Special Features
However, the plane’s main role is to keep the US president safe.
In-flight refueling capability means it can stay in the air almost indefinitely.
A hardened electronics system protects against electromagnetic pulses — whether from nuclear explosions or hostile jammers — “allowing the aircraft to function as a mobile command center in the event of an attack on the United States,” the White House said.
Those communications also keep Trump constantly in touch with the ground — and able to send social media posts in mid-air.
The jet also has top-secret air defenses, according to aviation specialists.
These reportedly include countermeasures that can jam enemy radars and infrared tracking systems, plus dispensers for chaff — metal shavings that distract radar-guided missiles — and flares that blind heat-seeking missiles.
Historic Roles
Inevitably, Air Force One has also played its role in history.
The first specially-designed jets were brought in by John F. Kennedy in 1962, using modified Boeing 707s. One of those jets brought Kennedy’s body back to Washington after his assassination in Dallas in 1963.
Then in 2001, George W. Bush took to the skies aboard Air Force One after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Trump Obsession
But Trump has long had something of an obsession with the presidential jets.
The Republican has consistently sought to upgrade them, agreeing a deal with Boeing in 2018 during his first term for two new models based on the newer 747-8 jet.
He also dreamed up a new color scheme — replacing the one largely in place since Kennedy’s time — with a deep red stripe down the middle of the aircraft and a dark blue underbelly.
Trump likes the new look so much that he still has a model of it on his coffee table in the Oval Office, and showed it off at his inauguration for a second term.
But now he has repeatedly complained about delays and cost overruns.
“We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long… We have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old,” Trump said on Monday.
“You look at some of the Arab countries and the planes they have parked alongside of the United States of America plane, it’s like from a different planet.”
One of those same Arab countries, Qatar, has now offered the United States a Boeing 747-8 from the royal family to use as a stopgap Air Force One.
However, with ethical concerns and security worries about using a plane from a foreign power for such an ultra-sensitive purpose, it’s unclear whether the scheme will ever leave the ground.
Via: Agence France-Presse
