WASHINGTON— For President Donald Trump, accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” the Republican told reporters on Monday. “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
Critics of the plan worry that the move threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.
“This is unprecedented,” said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law expert at Loyola Law School. “We just haven’t tested these boundaries before.”
Trump tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he wouldn’t fly around in the gifted Boeing 747 when his term ends. Instead, he said, the $400 million plane would be donated to a future presidential library, similar to how the Boeing 707 used by President Ronald Reagan was decommissioned and put on display as a museum piece. “It would go directly to the library after I leave office,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t be using it.”
However, that did little to quell the controversy over the plane. Democrats are united in outrage, and even some of the Republican president’s allies are worried. Laura Loomer, an outspoken conspiracy theorist who has tried to purge disloyal officials from the administration, wrote on social media that she would “take a bullet for Trump” but said she’s “so disappointed.” Congressional Republicans have also expressed some doubts about the plan.
“My view is that it would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America. That would be ideal,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.
And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul flatly said he was a “No” on whether Trump should accept the plane. When asked to elaborate on his reasoning, Paul replied: “I don’t think it looks good or smells good.” The Republican shrugged when asked by a reporter if there were “constitutional questions.”
Trump will likely face persistent questions about the plane in the coming days as he travels to the Middle East, including a stop in Qatar.
Why does Trump want the Qatari plane?
The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades, and Trump is eager to replace them. During his first term, he displayed a model of a new jumbo jet in the Oval Office, complete with a revised paint scheme that echoed the red, white and dark blue design of his personal plane.
Boeing has been working on retrofitting 747s that were originally built for a now-defunct Russian airliner. But the program has faced nearly a decade of delays — with perhaps more on the way — from a series of issues, including a critical subcontractor’s bankruptcy and the difficulty of finding and retaining qualified staff who could be awarded high-level security clearances.
The new planes aren’t due to be finished until near the end of Trump’s term, and he’s out of patience. He has described the situation as “a total mess,” and he has complained that Air Force One isn’t as nice as the planes flown by some Arab leaders. “It’s not even the same ballgame,” he said.
Trump said Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, offered a replacement plane that could be used while the government was waiting for Boeing to finish.
“We give free things out,” he said. “We’ll take one, too.”
He bristled at suggestions that he should turn down the plane, comparing the potential gift to favors on the golf course.
“When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say, ‘Thank you very much,’” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota expressed skepticism.
“I understand his frustration. They’re way behind schedule on delivering the next Air Force One,” the Republican told reporters. “Whether or not this is the right solution or not, I don’t know.”
Mississippi GOP Sen. Roger Wicker said that any plane “needs to be gifted to the United States of America.”
He added that it whether the U.S. should accept a Qatari plane warranted further inquiry. “There’ll be some questions about that, and this issue, I expect, will be vetted by the time a decision needs to be made.”
