Qatar Defends 'Normal' Jet Gift to Trump's US

The Qatari prime minister defended his country's offer of a $400 million Boeing 747 jet as a gift to the Trump Administration, calling it a "normal thing" for allies and done "in full transparency and very legally".

"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.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump, whose family business has lucrative commercial ties with Qatar, 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" and said he would block political nominees to the Department of Justice until he had answers.

What To Know

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".

Trump recently returned to the U.S. from a tour of the Middle East to drum up more than a trillion dollars of investment from the region, as well as hold talks on issues such as peace with Israel and the Iranian nuclear program.

One of his stops was Qatar, which signed an order for 160 Boeing jets in a deal worth $200 billion, as well as a number of defense purchases from the U.S.

Separately, at the end of April, Trump's family firm had struck a deal to build a luxury golf course there, and the Qatari government is one of its partners.

Al Thani 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."

What People Are Saying

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said in a statement on May 15: "There's nothing Donald Trump loves more than being treated like a king, and that's exactly why foreign governments are trying to buy his favor with a luxury jumbo jet and investments in Trump's crypto scams.

"This isn't a gift out of the goodness of their hearts – it's an illegal bribe that the President of the United States is champing at the bit to accept. That's unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said in a statement to The Hill: "This gift from Qatar is rife with legal, ethical, and practical impediments, including the potential for espionage. I'm not sure how we would be able to adequately inspect and outfit it to prevent that from happening. Also, by the time the plane is done, the president's term may well be nearly finished. Ultimately, I'm not sure why this is necessary at all."

President Trump posted to his Truth Social platform on May 14: "The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years.

"It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive.

"Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done...Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country."

What's Next

It is not clear that the donation will come to fruition, particularly given the broad Republican opposition to it.

Aside from the ethical concerns, there is the practical problem of ensuring the plane is secure enough to be used as Air Force One—a complex and expensive process.

Schumer said on X, formerly Twitter, he would introduce a Senate bill "to prohibit any foreign aircraft from being used as Air Force One...Retrofitting the Qatari plane would cost billions and could never even truly eliminate all catastrophic risks."