U.S. President Donald Trump is defending the prospect of receiving a plane as a gift from Qatar that would temporarily replace Air Force One amid claims of bribery and corruption from senior U.S. government officials.
At a press conference on Monday, the president said he would be a “stupid person” to turn down a free jet from Qatar, which he said was a “very nice gesture.”
“I think what happened with the plane is that we’re very disappointed that it’s taken Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old,” Trump said to White House reporters on Monday.
“They knew about [delays] because they buy Boeings, they buy a lot of Boeings, and they knew about it and they said we would like to do something. And if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our defence department to use for a couple of years while we’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture. I appreciate it very much,” he continued.
“I could be a stupid person and say no, we don’t want a free plane,” he said.
On Sunday, Qatari officials acknowledged that they had discussed the possibility of handing over a luxury aircraft to the president, before reiterating that no deal had been finalized, according to The Guardian, nor did they confirm that the jet was a gift as Trump had suggested in a post on X.
“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
The president says he plans to use the jet to replace Air Force One until he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership would be transferred to his presidential library.
The prospect of a free plane ushered in a wave of criticism from Democrats, who decried the offer as bribery and unconstitutional, leading Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer to take aim at Trump’s “America First” policy.
“Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,” he wrote in a statement on X. “It’s not just bribery – it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
Similarly, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin called on the president to obtain the consent of the House before accepting the luxury jet as a present.
“Trump must seek Congress’ consent to take this $300m from Qatar. The Constitution is perfectly clear: no present of any kind whatever from a foreign state without Congressional permission. A gift you use for four years and then deposit in your library is still a gift (and a grift),” he wrote on X.
Democratic pollster Matt McDermott also posted that he was “literally speechless,” saying the move was “bribery in broad daylight,” and adding that days earlier, the Trump Organization, which is run by the president’s children, had unveiled plans for a new US$5.5-billion golf course in Qatar.
Experts noted that using a plane provided by a foreign nation could pose international security threats, and that Air Force One is a military aircraft designed to protect its occupants.
Harvard University international security professor and CNN security analyst Juliette Kayyem wrote on X that the surveillance and security implications were as “disturbing as the grift.”
“Qatar will surely offer a plane that satisfies their needs as well,” she added.
Meanwhile, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that the plane Trump is set to receive is “likely the most expensive gift from a foreign government in US history and will likely raise questions from legal experts.”
The current presidential plane is a Boeing 747-200, which has aerial refuelling capabilities and specially designed facilities onboard, including offices; private quarters for the president and his wife; a convertible medical facility; work and rest areas for staff, media and the flight crew; two galleys with the capacity to feed 100 people at once; state-of-the-art navigation, electronic and communications equipment; a self-contained baggage loader and front and aft air-stairs.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
