Qatar denies Donald Trump’s claim about gifting lavish jet: ‘Reports are inaccurate’

Hardly any other US president in recent decades has made as many controversial headlines as the Republican Donald Trump, who is now back in office. His latest announcement on the internet has sparked yet another scandal.

Donald Trump's expensive 'gift' from Qatar

Shortly before his trip abroad to the Middle East, which will take him to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates before he lands in Qatar, Donald Trump is making the whole world sit up and take notice once again. On his own social media platform Truth Social, he has now confirmed what was previously considered a scandalous rumour.

The aristocratic family from Qatar is said to be giving the US Department of Defence a Boeing 747 that can be used as the 'new' Air Force One. After all, the US President could be acting unconstitutionally by accepting such a gift. However, the politician himself does not seem to see a problem with this, rather the opposite. He said:

The fact that the Department of Defence is being gifted a 747 aircraft in a very public and transparent transaction to temporarily replace the 40 year old Air Force One bothers the corrupt Democrats so much that they insist we pay TOP DOLLAR for the plane.

The White House is keeping a low profile in this regard

In his statement, the Republican also takes a shot at the Democrats, from whom he has already received a lot of backlash for even thinking about accepting such a gift.

There was also criticism from some people in his own party. Official spokespeople from the White House and the Ministry of Defence were therefore rather cautious: they are still examining whether and to what extent it would be possible to accept such an expensive gift [a Boeing 747 costs upwards of 372 million dollars], which also poses a security risk.

And the media attaché from Qatar also denies such a deal

Following the initial media reports, which came from NBC and the BBC among others, Qatar has also been rather cautious. The media attaché, Ali Al-Ansari, explained that it was not a gift and that it had not yet been fully clarified to what extent the aircraft would even be made available. In an official statement, he explained:

Reports that Qatar will donate a jet to the US government during President Trump's upcoming visit are inaccurate. The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under review between the Qatari Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defense.

However, the matter is still under consideration by the respective legal departments and no decision has yet been made.

This article has been translated from Gentside DE.

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Sources used:

BILD: Als neue Air Force One: Trump will Luxus-Jet aus Katar als Geschenk annehmen

Euronews: Geschenk oder Bestechung: Trump will Luxusjet aus Katar annehmen

The New York Times: Trump Is Poised to Accept a Luxury 747 From Qatar for Use as Air Force One

BBC: White House and Qatar discuss transfer of luxury jet for Air Force One