The White House confirmed that Qatar offered to give a luxury jet of the royal family to the United States government to be used as a presidential plane.
A Qatar authority stated that the plane would be technically donated by the country’s Ministry of Defense to Pentagon, classifying the case more as a transaction between governments than as a personal transaction.
Given the enormous value of the plane, a Boeing 747-8, the measure is unprecedented and raises ethical and legal questions.
Ethical and legal doubts about airplane
Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for Citizens’ organization for responsibility and ethics in Washington, said the measure would represent a drastic removal of the actions that presidents have been adopted to comply with the US Constitution Foreign Framework Clause.
This clause prohibits foreign payments to an acting president.
“No title of nobility will be granted by the United States; and no person who occupies any lucrative or trusting position under his jurisdiction will accept, without the consent of Congress, any gift, fee, position or title, any kind, any king, prince or foreign state,” says the clause.
So Libowitz says, “We have never seen anything at a $ 400 million aircraft level. It’s a scale far beyond everything we’ve seen before.”
Kathleen Clark, a government expert at the University of Washington Faculty of Law in St. Louis, said the Trump government is “structuring a transaction to try to avoid the obvious application of the law.”
She also pointed out that, as Congress did not consent to the present, he violates the clause.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s a gift for Trump. The federal government is an intermediary,” Clark commented.
During Trump’s first term, legal disputes arose about whether he had violated the fees clause by illegally profited with his business while occupying public office, Clark said.
In 2021, the US Supreme Court rejected the lawsuits against the Republican because he was no longer in office.
“Trump believes that it will get away with this $ 400 million bribe from Qatar because it has been gone by several violations of the fees clause in its first term, neither Congress nor the court would apply the anti -corruption clause of the Constitution,” said Clark.
“Security nightmare,” says Fonte
In the US secret service, the possible donation of an airplane by a foreign government for presidential use is being seen as a “safety nightmare,” a source told CNN.
“THE [Força Aérea dos EUA] It would have to dismantle it in search of surveillance equipment and inspect the integrity of the plane, ”said the source.
White House and Trump defend gift
White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that legal details about the acceptance of a Boeing 747-8 jet to replace Air Force One-as the DSO USA Presidency plane-as a Qatar family gift “are still being prepared.”
“Any donation to this government is always made in full compliance with the law,” he added.
Asked if he believed that this “gift” would demand something in return, Leavitt replied, “No way, because they know President Trump and know that he only works thinking about the interests of the American public.”
Trump said on Sunday night that the Defense Department plans to accept luxury jet as a “free gift” on social networks. He stated that the jet would be temporarily used “in a very public and transparent transaction.”
On the morning of Monday, the president again defended the possible gift, describing him as a “contribution” and saying that it would be a “stupid person” to refuse a free jet.
Trump added that the plane “goes straight” to his presidential library after he leaves office. “I wouldn’t use it,” he concluded.
This content was originally published in Qatar can give luxury jet to Trump as a gift; US law allows? on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
