Some of President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are not thrilled about his plan to accept a luxury jet as a gift from Qatari royals to use as Air Force One.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told CNN, “I don’t think another country should be providing America [a plane]. We don’t need that….I think America can afford their own plane and build their own Air Force One.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters, “It would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America.” And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told CNBC Tuesday morning that he is “not a fan of Qatar,” adding, “The plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.” (Indeed, a Defense Department official told the New York Times it would take “years, not months” to make the necessary security upgrades for the plane.)
Democrats and legal experts have alleged the plan, first reported by ABC News on Sunday, violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits any person holding elected office from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” Even Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) acknowledged that the gift appears to run afoul of the Emoluments Clause, telling Fox News host Jesse Waters, “There is a provision in the Constitution that says you can’t do this.” Paul also characterized accepting the plane as “a mistake,” adding, “I think it’s not worth the appearance of impropriety.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told CNN that Trump and the White House “need to look at the Constitutionality” of accepting the plane. And Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said the news “raises questions” about whether the administration would be in compliance with the “gift law.”
According to ABC’s reporting, Attorney General Pam Bondi and top White House lawyer David Warrington believe that transferring the plane to the Trump library foundation before the end of his term will make the arrangement legally sound. When asked about the gift, valued at approximately $400 million, Trump called it a “very nice gesture,” adding, “it helps us out,” given that upgrades to the current Air Force One have repeatedly been delayed. “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Trump added.
But some of his most ardent supporter think he should.
Laura Loomer, a close friend of Trump’s who appeared to influence his decision to fire several members of his National Security Council and recently claimed credit for Mike Waltz’s ousting as national security advisor, lambasted the decision to accept the plane in multiple posts on X. “This 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,” Loomer wrote on Sunday, noting that Qatar has helped fund Hamas. “We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits,” Loomer added. (It’s worth noting that Loomer has a history of making Islamophobic comments.) In other posts, Loomer claimed, without evidence, that Qatar was funding the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa and that Qatar was behind the attempted assassinations of Trump.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also pointed to Qatar’s role in funding Hamas as his rationale for opposing the gift, adding, “I don’t know how you make [the plane] safe.” Right wing commentator Ben Shapiro called the decision to accept the gift “skeezy,” alleging it was “not America first” given Qatar’s support for Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the news outlet Al Jazeera, which is partly funded by the Qatari government.
It remains to be seen if this chorus of right-wing voices will sway Trump’s decision to accept the plane. But if he does, at least Loomer and her cronies will likely be staying off the “palace in the sky.”
