Both Democrats and Republicans criticize the president Donald Trump After he announced plans to accept the jumbo jet from the Qatar government, he argued that the gift was filled with both spying concerns and constitutional questions. But as one expert tells Fox, the latter concerns could be exaggerated.
For example, Trump Alliance Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in an interview Tuesday that the plane’s acquisition would bring “significant espionage and surveillance issues,” but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.”) was declared, but Trump is unable to accept a $400 million flight palace from Qatar’s royal family.
On Sunday morning, the Trump administration is expected to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family, raising concerns that Trump would personally acquire ownership of the plane and violate the constitution’s removal clause. ABC News reported that Trump will use the jet until the end of his term and until it is given to his presidential library.
Trump confirmed and revealed in a true social post later Sunday. Ministry of Defense He was scheduled to receive a gift while he denounced the Democrats for criticism of the offer.
On January 24th, President Donald Trump and the First Lady Melania Trump Commission air forces at Andrews, Maryland. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
“So the fact that the Pentagon is temporarily giving away 747 aircraft for free to replace the 40-year-old Air Force with a very public and transparent deal is bothering the bent Democrats we claim we will pay for the plane,” Trump wrote. “Everyone can do that! Dem is a world-class loser!!! Maga.”
At the heart of Democrats’ concern over this issue is the emolations phrase In the constitution“The title of nobility must not be granted by the United States, and shall not be accepted from a king, prince, or foreign country, without the consent of Congress, or without the consent of Congress.”
“Trump is literally trying to fly around from foreign governments while serving as president. That’s a violation of the constitution. The emoluments clause was not a proposal. It’s not a law.” I said this on Monday morning Following the announcement.
Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that it is doubtful if the Emoluments clause applies to the President, especially if the clause affects the President and specifically cites the title in the title.
Boeing had a production issue where the next generation of Air Force fleets were delivered on time. (Getty Images)
“This clause was inserted specifically for concerns by the founders of the Constitutional Convention on Corruption of Foreign Governments. In particular, as clauses by the French government are not named by the president and the constitution normally applies to the president, the constitution usually applies to the president, the debt clause usually applies to the president. If the US ‘official’ includes the president, he would not need to be listed individually,” explained von Spakowsky.
He added that the president is “an individual who appoints ‘officials’ subject to the emolations clause.
“Antonin Scalia, when he worked for the Department of Justice, pointed out that when the Constitution mentioned “officials” in 1974, it always refers to someone other than the president or vice president, so I certainly agreed after he gave his opinion,” he continued.
Flashback: Travel to the Emirate of Champ’s Qatar Jet Gift Critical Prime Minister
Jet’s offer comes after Trump builds a new Air Force fleet in opposition to Boeing and seeks expensive government deals. Prior to his first administration, Trump posted on social media in December 2016 that Boeing would build two aircraft at “inadequate cost, over $4 billion.”
In 2018, Trump awarded Boeing a $3.9 billion fixed price contract and built two new jets. However, construction of the Jets is not expected to be completed until 2029.
The Qatar government is offering Boeing 747-8 aircraft as shown here. (Getty Images)
“We are extremely disappointed that Boeing is taking so long to build a new Air Force,” Trump said at a press conference on drug prices Monday morning. “You know, we have a 40-year-old Air Force, and if you look at it, it’s not even the same ballgame, compared to the equivalent new plane, compared to its height at the time.”
Trump clarifies aircraft ownership to protect Qatar’s gifts
“When I first entered, I signed an order to build (a new Air Force 1 fleet),” he continued. “I took over that from the Obama administration, they originally agreed. I lowered the price a lot, and when the election didn’t work exactly how it should have, a lot of work wasn’t done on planes because a lot of people weren’t giving orders for change.
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt also dispelled concerns about the Qatar Royal Family, which donates the Boeing Jumbo Jet to the U.S. Department of Defense, claimed on Monday there was no Quid Pro arrangement and that the donation was under legal review to ensure full compliance with the law.
Von Spakovsky said that if the plane is in fact a government-to-government gift and not a personal gift to the president, the Trump administration is likely to be legally clear to accept the gift.
“If this gift is considered a gift to the US government, there is no legal issue as such a gift has no constitutional or legal issue. If this is a personal gift to the President, the Department of Justice will weigh the constitutional issue I have raised.
Cherry blossoms in Washington DC (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
Von Spakovsky said that such government-to-government gifts are no different from the thousands of cherry trees given to the United States by the Japanese government every spring, which attracted more than a million daily tourists to Washington, DC in 1912.
Presidential allies such as Cruz said concerns over spying focus on planned transactions, citing its relationship with Qatar’s terrorist groups.
“I’m not a Qatar fan, I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic madmen who want to kill us and funding Hamas. And Hezbollah. And that’s a real problem,” Cruz said in an interview Tuesday on CNBC.
“I think planes will pose serious espionage and surveillance issues,” he added. “We’ll see how this problem works, but I certainly have concerns.”
Trump defends Qatar Jumbo Jet offer as problematic Boeing cannot deliver a new Air Force 1 fleet
Senator Ted Cruz warned of concerns about potential espionage if DOD accepts Qatar planes. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Democrats such as Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed and Illinois Dick Durbin also warned that planes have security issues. For example, Reed argued that using planes as an Air Force would “pose an immense anti-intellectual risk by granting sensitive systems and potential access to communications.”
Democrats and some Republicans have criticised Trump for the move, while other Republican lawmakers have said they are zoned to legislative issues and not looped to plane issues.
“I’m not actually paying attention to it,” R-La. Senator Bill Cassidy previously told Fox News Digital. “Sorry for being so out of the loop about that. I’ve just been thinking about what Medicaid and the house are sending.”
Qatar offers air force jumbo jets to provide Trump jumbo jets
Senator Joni Ernstanother Trump ally, R-Iowa, said he didn’t know enough about the deal to comment on it when he was pushed onto Fox News Digital. Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Eric Schmidt of Missouri also said they don’t know the details of the plane.
Emil Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomes President Donald Trump on Wednesday, May 14th, 2025 at Amiri Diwan, Doha, Qatar. (Alex Brandon/AP)
Trump is currently in the middle of a four-day trip to the Middle East, including a visit to Qatar on Wednesday. Tesla Cyber ​​Truck It clearly nods to the official government efficiency office and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
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The plane is not expected to be presented to the president or accepted by Trump during his trip abroad.
“The Boeing 747 is given to the US Air Force/Doctors, not me!” Trump posted to him True Social Accounts While in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. “It is a gift from Qatar, a country we have protected over the years, that our government will use as a temporary air force.
