Trump allegedly told reporters in the Oval Office: “[I] got a beautiful big magnificent free airplane for the United States Air Force. Very proud of that.”
Qatar insists that a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Doha specifies that the Trump administration initiated the aircraft transfer and that Qatar is not responsible for any future transfers of the plane’s ownership, The Washington Post revealed on Thursday.
President Trump wants the aircraft for the US Air Force, and he allegedly told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday: “[I] got a beautiful big magnificent free airplane for the United States Air Force. Very proud of that.”
Qatar insists Trump administration initiated free plane transfer to US – report
Trump allegedly told reporters in the Oval Office: “[I] got a beautiful big magnificent free airplane for the United States Air Force. Very proud of that.”
The president and his family have monetized the White House more than any other occupant, normalizing activities that once would have provoked heavy blowback and official investigations.
When Hillary Clinton was first lady, a furor erupted over reports that she had once made $100,000 from a $1,000 investment in cattle futures. Even though it had happened a dozen years before her husband became president, it became a scandal that lasted weeks and forced the White House to initiate a review.
Thirty-one years later, after dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Jeff Bezos agreed to finance a promotional film about Melania Trump that will reportedly put $28 million directly in her pocket — 280 times the Clinton lucre and in this case from a person with a vested interest in policies set by her husband’s government. Scandal? Furor? Washington moved on while barely taking notice.
The Trumps are hardly the first presidential family to profit from their time in power, but they have done more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House. The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking. The Trump family and its business partners have collected $320 million in fees from a new cryptocurrency, brokered overseas real estate deals worth billions of dollars and are opening an exclusive club in Washington called the Executive Branch charging $500,000 apiece to join, all in the past few months alone.
Just last week, Qatar handed over a luxury jet meant for Mr. Trump’s use not just in his official capacity but also for his presidential library after he leaves office. Experts have valued the plane, formally donated to the Air Force, at $200 million, more than all of the foreign gifts bestowed on all previous American presidents combined.
And Mr. Trump hosted an exclusive dinner at his Virginia club for 220 investors in the $TRUMP cryptocurrency that he started days before taking office in January. Access was openly sold based on how much money they chipped in — not to a campaign account but to a business that benefits Mr. Trump personally.
According to Reuters, [South African President Cyril] Ramaphosa expected to mend diplomatic relations with the United States, after the Trump Administration decided to cut humanitarian aid, expelled the South African ambassador and offered refuge to white Afrikaners.
Instead, the US President confronted the South African leader with claims of white genocide and illegal land expropriations, which have been described by Reuters as patently false.
The BBC reports that Trump showed Ramaphosa a video, depicting several crosses along a road. The US President claimed that those were the burial sites of of murdered white farmers in South Africa.
According to the BBC, the video appears to be from a 2020 protest over a murdered farming couple in the Kwazulu-Natal province, with the crosses representing murdered farmers over the years.
Trumpian diplomacy = fake videos! Henry Kissinger would be so impressed! Not!
This White House is just a friggin’ joke!
Trump’s latest controversy: the moment he insulted the South African president to his face
Referencing Trump’s business moves while in office, an ethics expert said, “His is one of the most blatant and appalling instances of selling access to the presidency I’ve ever seen.”
President Donald Trump dined with 220 investors who plowed a combined $148 million into his crypto venture, boosting the growing crypto industry and inviting a torrent of criticism about the ethical implications.
Black-tie dinners with the wealthy are nothing new for Trump. But this event, which took place on the evening of May 22 at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, stood out among the annals of presidential dining.
The dinner with the president was a reward for making the leaderboard in a contest to be among the top purchasers of the $TRUMP meme coin, a type of cryptocurrency. The top 25 buyers spent more than $111 million and were granted a private VIP reception with Trump, while the top four also received a limited edition Trump Tourbillon watch that sells for $100,000.
This is corruption and influence-peddling at is finest. King Donald is for sale!
Trump’s crypto dinner: Black ties, a Chinese billionaire and ethics questions
Trump hosted a black-tie dinner at his Virginia golf club for 220 investors who gave a combined $148 million to his crypto venture.
Team Trump’s decision to accept the Qatari “gift” doesn’t end the controversy; it starts the controversy.
The Times’ report added that the Defense Department “has not given an estimate of when the work on the Qatari plane might be done, even though Mr. Trump and the White House have made clear the president wants it soon, perhaps even by the end of the year.”
What the president “wants” is likely to prove irrelevant: NBC News recently reported that converting the luxury jet will “take years to complete.”
Indeed, it’s worth emphasizing that the administration’s decision to accept the Qatari “gift” doesn’t end the controversy; it starts the controversy.
Now that this plan is moving forward, the president and his White House team should prepare for a series of questions for which there are no easy answers. Where will Trump find the money to pay for this “free” plane? Why does he keep pretending that this “gift” isn’t for him personally, even after he’s publicly suggested otherwise? How does Trump intend to overcome the seemingly obvious fact that the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause still exists, and it appears to prohibit exactly this kind of arrangement?
Why was Attorney General Pam Bondi involved in approving this process after having served as a paid registered lobbyist for Qatar? How does Trump plan to explain away his earlier condemnations of presidents accepting foreign gifts? Why is the president apparently indifferent to the fact that even many of his Republican allies have expressed opposition to this idea? Will Congress have any role in approving the transfer, as is required for such gestures of international generosity?
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani commented on the accusations that Qatar was gifting the jet to Trump just to get on the President’s good side, saying that the gift is simply a donation to another world leader.
Baloney!
We’ll find out eventually when they call in the favor.
Qatar prime minister insists $400m gifts are ‘normal’ between friends
Qatar’s Prime Minister has claimed the country’s $400 million “gift” to President Trump comes with no strings attached.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in a Sunday interview that the pending transfer of a Qatari luxury jet “detracts from” what he saw as President Trump‘s “largely successful” Middle East trip and “gives the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Why it matters: Paul, who has already cautioned against the possible gift to Trump, is one of a group of Republicans who have raised legal, ethical and national security concerns over the prospect of the administration accepting a jet worth roughly $400 million to potentially serve as Air Force One.
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Paul said on ABC’s “This Week” that there is “probably a perfectly legal way” the plane could be accepted, but added that he thinks the discussion has “raised more questions than I think it’s worth.”
Paul, who said he has in the past pushed to block arms sales to Qatar and Saudi Arabia over alleged human rights abuses, contended, “Could it color the perception of the administration if they have a $400 million plane to be more in favor of these things? Perhaps.”
Paul continued, “It at least gives the appearance of a conflict of interest. I don’t think it’s worth the headache.”
Qatari jet “gives the appearance of a conflict of interest” for Trump, senator says
Paul said on ABC’s “This Week” that the discussion has “raised more questions than I think it’s worth.”
The review aims to ensure that U.S. attorneys in 94 offices nationwide share equal responsibility with headquarters officials in choosing whether to pursue public corruption cases, according to a department official speaking on background. No final decisions have been made, the department official said.
It would put these prosecutions under the control of political appointees who can quickly be replaced to do the President’s bidding, e.g. the appointment of Trump’s Bimbo #4 Alina Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. Previously such prosecutions were managed by DOJ’s career professional staff.
In latest Trump overhaul, Justice Department may change who prosecutes public corruption
The Justice Department may move decisions about charging public from headquarters to regional U.S. attorney offices.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s alleged connection to Qatar has drawn criticism as the Qatari government plans to gift President Donald Trump a luxury Boeing 747-8 for temporary use as Air Force One. Bondi previously lobbied Congress for Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in 2020. The situation has since fueled legal and ethical concerns regarding foreign gifts to U.S. officials.
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Democratic pollster Matt McDermott said, “The DOJ memo approving Trump’s Qatari jet? Written by Pam Bondi. Her last job? Lobbying for Qatar.”
Pam Bondi Under Fire Over Qatar Jet: ‘Wrong Signal’
President Donald Trump’s claim that a jet plane from the Qatari royal family was a “gift” is facing turbulence after multiple sources tell CNN it was in fact the Trump administration that initiated talks to acquire the Boeing 747 that could temporarily serve as Air Force One.
Four sources familiar with the discussions contradict Trump’s implied line that Qatar spontaneously offered the plane. Instead, they say US officials, frustrated by delays in Boeing’s delivery of the new presidential fleet, actively pursued alternative options — Qatar among them.
“Qatar was one of the clients,” a source told CNN, explaining that Boeing pointed the Pentagon toward existing international customers. “The Pentagon offered to buy the plane and Qatar indicated it was willing to sell it.”
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The administration was told by Boeing, which is making the next generation of Air Force One planes, that the two planes would not arrive until 2027. Trump wanted something sooner. So the Pentagon, with the White House backing, reached out to Qatar.
Boeing had given the administration a list of possible planes that could work as Air Force One in the meantime, and Qatar had one of those planes.
The president’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, he also helped facilitate these early meetings. The Pentagon then offered to buy the plane, and Qatar offered to sell it. Now, we’re told the lawyers are still hashing out the details, but the White House is still claiming that this is going to be a donation from Qatar. Or, as Trump wrote on Truth Social recently, a gift “free of charge.”
Trump Made the First Move for Jet ‘Gift’ From Qataris: Report
Trump’s claim that a promised Qatar jet plane was a “gift” is facing turbulence after sources tell CNN it was in fact the administration that initiated talks.
