Donald Trump has drawn fierce blowback from even some of his most devoted supporters over the Qatar jumbo jet controversy.
The president has said he is willing to accept a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 — which Qatar’s ruling family is reportedly considering to give as a gift — that will be used as Air Force One and then transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation when he leaves office.
Conservatives and Democrats alike have flamed POTUS over the move.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, vented on social media: “Trump must seek Congress’ consent to take this $300 million gift 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).”
“This isn’t a good idea even if the plane was being donated to the U.S. government. But Trump GETS TO KEEP THE PLANE???” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s simply a cash payment to Trump in exchange for favors. Just wildly illegal.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) fumed: “Congress must not allow this over-the-top kleptocracy to proceed.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) added: “Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. It’s not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a longtime critic of Trump, asked: “Didn’t Hunter Biden once sell a painting and get investigated for four years?”
The Democratic Party, meanwhile, slammed it as “corruption in plain sight.”
On the other side of the aisle, conservative radio host and pundit Erick Erickson posted on social media: “The Qatari government is not our friend, cooperates with Iran and its proxies, and funds terrorism and pro-terror propaganda around the world.”
And far-right conspiracist Laura Loomer, usually a vocal supporter of Trump slammed the move.
“I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade,” she wrote, adding it is “really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.”
Jordan Libowitz, of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington watchdog, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: “You have to ask, if he makes foreign policy — especially in regards to the Middle East — how much is he being influenced by his gifts and his business deals.”
Trump, however, defended it in a post on his Truth Social platform, writing:
“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”